Transforming Scotland with Solar Energy: Final Report

The low awareness in Scotland of the potential benefits of solar energy was the context for the programme. The benefits of all types of renewables include business opportunities and mitigating climate change, however in the case of solar there are additional important contributions that can be made, including alleviation of fuel poverty, security of energy supply through distributed generation and providing local assets for community ownership. In recent years drastic reductions in the cost of solar technologies, in particular photovoltaics (solar electricity), mean that solar is becoming increasingly cost competitive with other renewables and will eventually compete on price with fossil fuel energy. There can be a perception that Scotland is not a sunny country, as insolation levels are lower than more southern countries, however the vast total solar resource means that even in Scotland solar energy can be a major energy source. The “2020 Routemap for Renewable energy in Scotland” (Oct 2012 update) contained no section on solar energy. The Dec 2013 update contained only a one-page summary with a purely business-related focus and did not cover the diverse range of opportunities solar energy could contribute to Scottish life. This can be contrasted with the International Energy Agency forecast that solar energy could be the largest source of electricity worldwide by 2050.