What the government's Clean Power Action Plan means for commercial solar installations
The UK government has published its plan for achieving clean power by 2030, describing it as “the most ambitious reforms to the country’s energy system in generations”. We explore whether measures proposed in the plan could make it easier for businesses to invest in commercial solar installation.
The Clean Power Action Plan 2030 includes measures that could boost uptake of renewables by businesses and local authorities. The plan includes research into the vast potential for solar generation presented by spaces including rooftops and car parks over agricultural land, as well as proposals to smooth out planning challenges and grid connection constraints. Here’s what we know so far.
Tackling commercial solar planning bottlenecks
In 2023-24, over 60% of delayed responses to planning applications from the Environment Agency were due to resourcing constraints. So, a key focus area will be to equip planning teams with the people and skills they need to meet rising demand, part of a £46 million support package. New performance standards will also be introduced for local planning authorities and the Planning Inspectorate.
Speeding up grid connections for viable renewable installation projects
There are currently thousands of clean energy projects waiting in a queue to be approved to be connected to the UK grid. If all these were given the go-ahead, 739GW of energy would be added to the system (Clean Power Action Plan, page 64), 14 times the amount of renewable energy the country currently has!
Many of these projects are speculative or do not have the necessary funding or planning permission to progress, causing connection delays for viable projects behind them. The government wants to move away from a “first-come first-served” approval process for the grid and prioritise those likely to be most useful. Technological and locational factors will be considered – so the right projects can connect in the right place at the right time.
Support for warehouse and industrial rooftop solar
The Clean Power Plan highlights the enormous potential for rooftop solar installation across the UK’s warehouse and industrial sectors. Research commissioned by UK Warehousing Association (UKWA) indicates that the UK’s 20% largest warehouses alone can provide 75 million square metres of roof space, and all warehousing roof space has the potential to support up to 15 GW of rooftop solar capacity.
The Solar Taskforce has examined government and industry actions that can unlock this potential. We can expect to see the launch of a “Solar Roadmap” in Spring 2025 that will outline steps to boost uptake in this area.
Solar PV for “zero-carbon ready” new builds
New standards will be introduced next year which will amend the energy efficiency standards in the Building Regulations in England. This means all new domestic and non-domestic buildings in England should be “zero-carbon ready”, meaning they will become zero-carbon when the electricity grid decarbonises without the need for any retrofit work.
The Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation closed in March 2024, and set out detailed technical proposals for what future standards could entail, such as the integration of renewable energy systems including solar PV.
Good Energy has been vocal about the need to mandate solar on new builds, using our data to show the additional clean power a standard 4kW system on each of the 1.5m new homes the government aims to build would provide. The government is reviewing proposals and feedback from the consultation and will publish its response soon.
Solar canopies in car parks
Outdoor car parks are an ideal location for solar canopies that generate clean electricity, charge electric vehicles and provide shelter. Following the implementation of a new permitted development right to allow for the installation of solar canopies in non-domestic off-street carparks in England, it is now easier and quicker to deploy this technology.
The government will assess the potential to drive the construction of solar canopies on outdoor car parks over a certain size through a call for evidence next year. It’s not yet clear whether this includes funding for car park solar, but it’s possible we could see some sort of financial incentive to drive uptake.
Funding for local and community energy projects
The government already announced its Local Power Plan earlier this year, and the Clean Power Plan re-emphasises this commitment to putting local authorities and communities at the heart of restructuring the energy economy.
In 2024 we saw the launch of grants run by local authorities to support the uptake of green energy measures, including funding for EV charging and business solar panel installation.
Great British Energy, a new, publicly owned company designed to drive investment in clean energy, will partner with, and provide funding and support to local authorities, mayoral combined authorities, community energy groups and others. It will also work with the devolved governments to roll out local and community energy projects (mainly onshore wind and solar) to develop up to 8 GW of clean power in the UK.
Upcoming dates to watch
• A Solar Roadmap and an Onshore Wind Industry Taskforce report will both be published by Spring 2025.
• The consultation response on the Future Homes and Buildings Standards will be published soon (date to be confirmed).
• A call for evidence on the potential to drive solar canopies on carparks over a certain size will be issued in 2025.
Start your commercial solar journey
For more information on government incentives for commercial solar PV, get in touch with the Good Energy Solar team. With rapid payback and plans to remove red tape, there’s never been a better time invest in solar PV.
