The UK stands at a critical juncture in its journey towards Net Zero emissions. Ambitious targets require a massive scale-up of renewable energy generation, with solar PV poised to play a starring role. However, ambition is hitting a significant infrastructure roadblock: grid connection capacity. While the drive for more solar is essential, the physical limitations and complex processes of connecting these new projects to the electricity grid are becoming a major bottleneck. This post explores the depth of this challenge and dives into how innovative technology, specifically solar trackers, offer a powerful solution to maximise our existing infrastructure and accelerate the UK’s clean energy transition.
The UK’s grid connection conundrum
The challenge facing UK renewables, particularly solar, is stark. Nearly every new project between 5kW and 50MW faces grid connection constraints. This isn’t just a minor inconvenience; it’s a fundamental barrier to deployment. Why? Our existing grid infrastructure, much of it built for a different era of centralised fossil fuel generation, is struggling to cope with the influx of connection requests for distributed renewable projects. Developers often face multi-year queues just to get an interconnection agreement, sometimes stretching into the 2030s.
Furthermore, the physical upgrades required to accommodate new generation capacity often carry staggering costs, running into billions of pounds nationally. These costs and delays not only stifle the pace of renewable deployment, threatening our climate targets, but they also impact project economics. While essential grid reform initiatives are underway, these regulatory changes alone won’t solve the problem. We urgently need complementary technological solutions that allow us to make the most of every grid interconnection.
Standard solar profiles and the grid
Fixed-tilt solar installations have been the backbone of the solar revolution to date. They generate clean electricity effectively, typically producing a generation profile that peaks sharply around midday when the sun is highest. While vital, this ‘bell curve’ profile means that on sunny days, large numbers of installations can flood local grids with maximum power simultaneously. If the local grid infrastructure doesn’t have the capacity to handle this peak influx, it leads to congestion, potential curtailment (where plants are forced to reduce output), and reinforces the need for costly upgrades. Moreover, this midday peak doesn’t always perfectly align with the UK’s peak electricity demand periods, which often occur in the morning and late afternoon/early evening.
Enter solar tracking – Latitude40
This is precisely where solar tracking technology can change the rules of the game. Unlike fixed panels, solar trackers dynamically adjust their orientation throughout the day to follow the sun’s path across the sky. Advanced dual-axis trackers, like our Latitude40, optimise this further by tracking both the sun’s altitude and its east-to-west movement.
The crucial difference lies in the generation profile. Instead of a sharp midday peak, trackers produce a broader, flatter curve, generating significantly more energy during the morning and afternoon periods relative to their peak output. Critically, they achieve this without increasing the peak connection capacity required. This seemingly simple shift has profound implications for the grid and project economics:
- Alleviating grid congestion: By spreading generation more evenly across daylight hours, trackers reduce the midday surge that strains local networks. They feed more consistent power into the grid, especially during shoulder periods.
- Maximising connection value & lowering grid costs: By generating more kilowatt-hours (kWh) through the same size grid connection (rated in kW or MW), trackers make far better use of existing or planned infrastructure. This increased energy yield per connection point can defer or even avoid the need for expensive grid upgrades.
- Increased project returns: The combination of significantly higher annual energy production (kWh) and capturing higher-value electricity prices leads directly to enhanced financial viability for solar projects.
The worrying trend: evidence of underutilisation
One yardstick of our progress – or lack thereof – is the solar load factor. This measures how much energy a solar plant actually generates over a year compared to its theoretical maximum output if operating at its peak rated capacity continuously. Worryingly, recent Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) data for FIT solar installations (up to 5MW) shows that average load factors have been consistently falling. This trend persists even when accounting for average irradiance levels (suggesting it’s not just about less sunny locations) or overall sunshine hours.
Whatever the cause, solar trackers directly combat this trend. By generating power for significantly more hours each day relative to their peak output, they inherently achieve higher load factors, boosting the efficiency of solar generation and reversing this decline. Their ability to capture more sunlight, especially at lower angles, also makes them particularly effective further north, extending solar’s viable footprint across the UK.
A transformative opportunity
The potential impact here is not incremental; it’s game-changing. If every solar project currently in the UK’s planning pipeline were to switch from fixed-tilt to tracker technology, the additional clean energy generated could be enough to power approximately 4.5 million homes. This represents a tangible contribution to the UK’s energy security, a reduced reliance on volatile global fossil fuel markets, and a faster, more efficient path to Net Zero.
Policy reform and enabling innovation
Realising this potential requires more than just technological advancement; it needs a supportive regulatory and policy environment. While ongoing grid reform is welcome, it must go hand-in-hand with mechanisms that recognise and reward grid-friendly generation characteristics. We need:
- Smarter connection processes: Connection agreements and queue management could potentially prioritise projects demonstrating enhanced grid utilisation or incorporating technologies like solar tracking.
- Policy recognition: Support schemes and policy frameworks need to acknowledge that not all solar kWh are equal in terms of grid impact. Recognising the value of technologies that maximise output from constrained connections is crucial.
The UK’s Net Zero ambitions face a real and present challenge in the form of grid connection bottlenecks. Simply building more standard solar, while necessary, risks exacerbating these constraints. However, by embracing technological innovation, specifically advanced solar trackers, we can generate significantly more energy using the same grid infrastructure. This technology offers a pathway to higher load factors, better alignment with demand, reduced grid stress, and improved project economics. We need continued grid reform coupled with intelligent policies that recognise and incentivise smarter generation to keep the energy transition firmly on track.