The latest deployment figures published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) reveal that over 77MW of new capacity was added in the <50kW sector during the month of March.
The amount of installs completed in March was more than double the amount connected in February – taking the total installs completed under the feed-in tariff (FiT) to 530,970. The surge in installs can be attributed to the 3.5% degression enacted across all <50kW feed-in tariff bands on 1 April, 2014.
The week ending 30 March 2014 saw 30.5MW of solar connected to the grid – a peak not reached since July 2013. The majority of that capacity was in the traditionally strong 0-4kW sector, with 16.83MW completed. However, the 10-50kW sector also saw significant deployment with 11.59MW completed.
Commenting on the latest deployment figures, Ray Noble, PV specialist for Solar Trade Association, said: “The market continues to grow and the 0.5p reduction in tariff is unlikely to affect continued market growth — nothing should stop solar now. With around 4GW installed, UK solar is generating the equivalent of powering 1.2 million homes.”
Currently, the FiT rates for solar PV stand at:
|
Description |
FiT rate p/kWh |
|
0-4kW |
14.38 |
|
>4-10kW |
13.03 |
|
>10-50kW |
12.13 |
|
>50-100kW |
10.71 |
Below is a graph which shows the weekly number of installs carried out this year:
Despite the introduction of a degression mechanism to help combat the traditional feast/famine cycle of solar, the industry has seen yet another large upturn in deployment despite the relatively modest degression of 3.5%. Some sectors of the UK solar industry have been critical of those who use ‘pressure tactics’ to boost sales around imminent degressions while others see it as a legitimate and effective sales tactic.
In 2014 the UK solar industry has averaged a weekly deployment of just over 10MW. The Solar Trade Association has previously stated that a weekly deployment rate of 8-10MW is “way too low” with the association suggesting that deployment should be in the region of 15-20MW per week to help meet the industry’s potential.