Solar Media is launching a campaign to help give the UK solar industry’s pragmatic voice a platform to be heard, in response to proposed changes to the technology’s policy support. The UK government has recently moved to scrap subsidies under the renewable obligation for ground-mount projects a year early. In addition, Westminster is looking at adding another layer of uncertainty to available rates of support for both ground- and roof-mounted solar.
The ‘Building a British Solar Future’ campaign will be fronted by the UK’s largest online news platform for solar, Solar Power Portal. In addition, the UK’s largest solar trade event, Solar Energy UK will be lending its support to the campaign. Other Solar Media brands involved in the campaign include, PV Tech and Next Energy News.
Commenting on the launch of the campaign, Tim Mann, managing director of Solar Media said: “The tight timelines involved in the government’s consultation documents mean that the UK solar sector must move quickly if its voice is to be heard.
“Solar in the UK has been the British energy success story of the last decade. The proposed changes to subsidy support do little to bolster investor confidence and the industry needs to state its case clearly and forcefully to the Department of Energy and Climate Change that solar will form the bedrock of Britain’s decarbonised energy future.”
The aim of the Building a British Solar Future campaign is to allow the sector to identify deliverable and realistic changes that can be lobbied for during the six-week consultation periods. The campaign will also look further into the future, exploring and evaluating innovative business models that could be adopted in the UK to ensure that solar can deploy with little to no subsidy in the near future.
Mann continued: “The UK solar industry has always punched above its weight in terms of deploying capacity but has consistently failed to communicate to the government the myriad benefits of supporting such a disruptive and democratic technology. As the most-visited industry website, we hope that the campaign on Solar Power Portal will serve as a meeting place for debate and ideas that can truly help UK solar fulfil its enormous potential.”
Over the next six weeks Solar Media will be utilising its in-house expertise to deliver insightful commentary and analysis as part of the campaign. In addition, Solar Media will be using its considerable contacts in the market to cultivate expert opinion from the industry’s leading thinkers and doers?
