UK renewables face a huge connection challenge:
For solar nearly every new project between 5kW and 50MW is grid constrained. The current grid reform should make a huge difference but if we are serious about reducing the multi £bn cost of grid upgrade, we need innovation to exploit every connection to the full.
This is where solar tracking can change the rules of the game. Unlike fixed solar panels, trackers can generate more energy in the morning and afternoon without any additional capacity. This means that we can produce more energy when its needed most – matching peak demand and alleviating grid congestion. This has multiple benefits: longer daily solar generation leads to lower grid investment, better alignment with onsite energy needs, reduced exposure to price volatility and increased project returns.
One yardstick of our progress as a sector is solar load factor, a measure of the efficiency of electricity generation. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero dataset for FIT solar (up to 5MW capacity) shows that solar load factors are consistently falling, whether you take into account either average irradiance (i.e. the northwards progress of installations) or the sunshine hours, as shown below.
We are going backwards!
Solar trackers can reverse this trends and extend the footprint of solar even further north. In fact, if every solar project in the UK’s pipeline switched to trackers, we could generate enough additional clean energy to power 4.5 million homes. This is not a small opportunity, it’s a transformative one!
How to achieve this?
To fully realise this potential, we need grid reform and a policy that recognises and supports innovative technologies like solar trackers. We must create a framework where these solutions can help ameliorate grid constraints and reduce grid investment costs.
Let’s unlock the full potential of solar and keep the UK’s energy transition on track.
