Sustainable Energy in United Kingdom

This research paper analyzes the current state of sustainable energy in the United Kingdom, focusing on the use of solar thermals on buildings. It discusses the advantages and barriers of this technology, as well as its impact on the energy system and other fuels. The paper also explores the latest technological developments in solar thermals and panels, including solar skins and solar-powered roads.

Running head: SUSTAINABLE ENERGY IN UNITED KINGDOM
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY IN UNITED KINGDOM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The purpose of the research paper is to analyze how the world needs to move towards a
low carbon energy supply in the present era. Among the low or zero carbon technologies which
are present in the market the research appear has chosen the use of solar thermals on the top of
buildings in UK.
It has further investigated the current state of the technologies used and various
opportunities for technological advancements which can be met by the companies. The paper has
also widely analyzed the barriers of the technological improvements and also recommended the
opportunities of the companies in the national and global market.
Introduction
The use of the solar power has been slowly developing in United Kingdom along with the
other European countries. Due to the subsidies which are available from the government of the
UK and diminishing of the equipment cost the solar power and technology is becoming more and
more attractive and popular among the citizens and industries In the country. Companies and
firms are investing more and more into their research and development projects in order to find
innovative ways to use the solar power in their industries. The small scale industries are
investing in the foreign companies and companies with information technologies in order to
build solar panel for them. Many firms in the country has already set up solar farms and solar
plants which provides them electricity at a very low cost (Freeman, Kalogirou and Markides
2017).

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According to the author Herrando and Markides (2016) the development of the new solar
photovoltaic plants which are also known as the PV plants and related technologies are dedicated
in further reducing the emission of the excess carbon. It also reduces the cost by broadening the
use of the range of the applications of the use of the solar panels in their industry. The different
types of photo voltaic plants which are used to build the building facades, windows and public
spaces are less costly sources of electricity. This allows the use of the PV plants in areas of the
country where the area is out of the reach of electricity.
The paper will discuss the various advances which are continuously being used along
with the associated technologies of installing panels, energy storage an grid integration. The
paper will find out the advantages of using the solar energy and these kinds of emerging solar
technologies will be helping the country in reducing the high the emission of carbon and meeting
the targets of using the lower cost of source of energy which is the widespread of the use of solar
energy in the UK.
Discussion
Current state of technology
There is an increase in the present technology which is used in UK. The increase in the
use of the solar energy and solar thermal for the buildings gives the people in UK an insight into
a positive future. According to the author if the country increases its use of solar power and solar
thermals upto 15% by the year 2020 there will a problem with the generation of the wind power
sector in the country. There is a huge number of cloud on the horizon of the country where their
is the huge amount of the windmills which are dedicated in generating a huge amount of
electricity for the country. The increase in the sue of the solar panels and solar thermals in the

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building soothe country will create a opposition from the wind generating sector of the country.
In fact some of the infrastructures constructors of the country and companies will fear to proceed
with the use of solar thermal in the buildings die to the opposition raised against the use of
thermal plants from the wind sector in the UK.
Another very important aspect which is to be kept in mind is about the effects of the
subsidy reduction in the solar thermal plants and buildings. There are various critics which have
claimed from the support of the coalition government of UK. This particular issue is only due to
the raise and expansion of the solar farms and solar thermals in the buildings in the country sides
of UK of which the government of UK is not much fond of. There is great concern which is
being raised by the people for the future of the region’s agricultural production which is
considered as the number one manufacturing sector in the United Kingdom.
According to Freeman, Hellgard and Markides (2017)there is a huge increase in the use
of solar thermals in UK along with the expansion of the energy fields which are powered by the
use of solar panels. There is a also a problem with the increase in the growth of the solar panel
and thermal manufacturers. According to a research by Jouhara (2016)it has been found out that
the manufacturers are cutting the edges of the solar panels and solar thermals for the building
which is being resulted in the use of inefficient materials in the solar thermals and solar panels. It
is also reported by Sutton et al. (2016)that the panels and thermals are composed of inferior
materials which does not own the capacity of producing electricity for a long run. The National
Solar Center in United Kingdom along with the government has implemented possible solution
for the problem raised. They are deciding to implement new ways to test the panels and thermals
directly from the productions and manufacturing unit or production line which will aid in
eliminating the development of low quality manufacturers.

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Impact on the energy system and other fuels
The sun is known for providing a tremendous resource in generating a clean and
sustainable source of electricity which is without any toxic pollution or global warming
emissions. But these are also known as creating potential environmental impacts which are
associated with the use of solar power are mainly with the use of excess land and loss of habitat,
use of excess water as well as the use of hazardous materials in the manufacturing units.
Excessive use of land and loss of habitat –Depending on the location of the solar thermal
generating plants and manufacturing units the larger units of the thermal production units are
raising the concerns about the land degradation and loss of habitat. The total area of the
requirement of the land varies with the use of the latest technologies used and the topography of
the site as well as the intensity of the solar resource. However according to Rogers (2016)there is
also a less opportunity for the solar thermal projects to share the land along with the land which
is utilized for the agricultural purpose. The land is highly impacted by the high rate of usage of
brown fields, abandoned mining and an increase in the transportation and transmission of
harmful gases. The smaller scale solar arrays of solar photovoltaic plants also impact the
minimal use of land.
Water Use – The solar cells which are used in generating electricity in the solar thermals
of the building are known to use some water. This water is used in manufacturing and
developing the solar photovoltaic components used in the solar thermal plants used in the
buildings. Also it is said by the author Bayon, (2016) that the concentrating solar thermal plants
which are used in the building tops requires enough water for cooling the system. The water
which is used fully depends on the design of the thermal plant, the placement of the plant and
location of the plant. According to the result from a research work which was conducted by

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Kylili, Ioannides and Kalogirou (2018) it showed that the concentrating solar thermal plants
which are used in the wet recirculation technology along with the cooling towers which are
placed above the top of the buildings requires a minimum amount of 600 to 650 gallons of water
per megawatt of hourly production of electricity.
Impact on the nature with the use of hazardous materials – The PV cells which are used
in the manufacturing process does include a number of hazardous material most of which are
mainly used in cleaning purpose and purification of the semiconductor surface of the solar
thermals. According to a research work by Agathokleous, Kalogirou and Karellas (2018) these
chemicals are mainly used in the general semiconductor industry includes the hydrochloric acid,
sulfuric acid, hydrogen and acetone. The workers who are working in those condition are also
affected with various types of skin diseases. They also have to face risks with the inhalation of
the silicon dust. The thin cells which are put inside the solar thermals contains a huge number of
toxic cells and materials than those which were used in the traditional silicon photovoltaic cells
which used to include the use of gallium arsenide and copper indium gallium. According to
Khanna, Reddy and Mallick (2018) if these harmful materials are not handled with proper care
and disposed properly the can pose a very serious environmental as well as public health threats.
The emerging companies in UK are investing a huge amount of money and have a strong
financial incentive which makes sure that these highly valuable and rare materials get disposed
off or recycled rather than throwing it to the water or land resources.
Excess emission of carbon dioxide into nature – According to Abdelrazik, Saidur and
Ben-Mansour (2018)he stated that there is no harmful global warming emissions which are
associated with the generating electricity from the solar thermals used in the building tops.
Whereas he also stated that there is a high emission of harmful gas are only associated with the

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stages of the solar life cycle which generally includes the manufacturing of the materials,
transportation of the materials, installation and maintenance of the materials. The emission of the
carbon dioxide from the product life cycle of the solar thermal plants ranges from 0.26 pounds to
0.52 pounds of carbon dioxide from one kilowatt of power.
Technical developments, now and into future
The solar thermals are in a constant state of innovation from the year 2016, along with
the new advances in the technologies used in the solar panels and solar thermals. In the year
2017 there has been a milestone in solar thermals and power generators in the efficient use of the
solar panels and with the storage of the solar energy and wearable solar technologies. There are
two main types of solar technologies which are photovoltaic and the concentrated solar power
cells. The Solar photovoltaic cells which are the latest technologies used in the solar thermals
helps the panels in capturing the sunlight from the sun which is then used to generate the electric
power. Where the work of the concentrated solar power is used to harness the heat from the sun
and uses it to generate the electric power from the stored thermal energy which powers the
heaters or the turbines placed inside it. With these new and latest technological innovations there
also comes a wide range of opportunities for the technological innovations. The latest
technological developments of the solar thermals are described below:
 Latest design in the solar skins – One of the major barriers which has been researched by
Calise, Figaj and Vanoli (2019) is with the high percentage of the home owners who
considers the solar panels to be an unsightly addition to the home and building tops.
Luckily there is a company which has grown in the recent years from MIT startup in UK.
The company has successfully created and designed the skins of solar thermals which are
known to match the design with the roof top and buildings. They have designed a latest

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concept which can be used to customize any solar thermal or panel which is set on a roof
to or the building top. They have also come up with the idea of customizing the solar
panels in such a way which would match the appearance of the roof of the building
without interfering the electricity generation and efficiency of the panels. The Sistine
Solar Skin which is an UK based company is also exporting its products to hit the US
market by the year 2020. The aim of the company is to rebrand the solar old and
traditional panels and solar thermals used in the market with a luxury product which will
serve the world with not just a solar panel anymore but a tool for home efficiency up
gradation.
 The latest use of the solar power roads – There was a test in the roads of UK ( Route 66),
where the road was powered by the latest technologies used that is the solar powered
roads. The route which is used for the test of the solar powered road was the sidewalks
for the Route 66 in UK. The roadway was accommodated with the latest solar powered
thermals and led light which used to get its electricity from the sunlight which was
absorbed in the daytime. The roadway heralded the ability of generating a clean and
green energy. The roads were powered by the led lights which used the solar power to
light themselves. According to Kasaeian, Ranjbaran and Wen (2018) they were also able
to hold the capacity of melting the snow which used to block the roads in the winter
season. The government is promoting the idea to enlighten the roads in that area. It will
be cost cutting method for the government as because the government would have to
employ people and ice cutting vehicles to clear the blocked roads.
 Solar water purifiers – One of the latest development is the solar water purifiers which is
designed and developed by a collaboration with the Department of energy and Stanford

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University in the year 2018 in order to develop a completely new solar device which has
the ability to purify the water when the purifier is exposed to direct sunlight. The
miniscule tablet is the latest technology which is used by the companies to filter the water
in the purifier. According to Ghazi (2014) the tablet is equal to the size of a postage
stamp. Though in terms of design and technology it can be a traditional way of purifying
the water by keeping the purifier in sunlight. However later in the year 2019, the students
of the Stanford University designed another purifier which can harness the UV rays not
only from the sunlight but also from the visible light at home. It also requires very less
time to produce reliable drinking water.
Barriers
Apart from the awareness for the use of the solar thermals in the buildings there should be a
separate workforce and technical support department who knows how to install the solar
thermals and solar panels in the building top. The companies in UK lack these facilities and
expertise. The necessary expertise in order to assemble the solar thermals and manage the
facilities is a big issue. Presently the country is relying on the experts from the other countries to
run its solar panels and solar thermals.
The country also suffers from the insufficient institutional framework. According to the
present electric plants and companies are maintained by the country’s National Energy
Regulation Commission. (NERC). The plants which are not able to produce 1megawatt of
energy per month they are not adequately regulated by the regulation commission. Few of the
barriers which are faced by the solar thermal plants in UK are discussed below:

9SUSTAINABLE ENERGY IN UNITED KINGDOM
 Technological Barriers – UK lacks skilled personnel. Due to the lack of the poor
personnel there is no reinforcement of the management which leads to the building of
poor plans with poor standards. The growing companies are also lacking the maintenance
and operation which is required to enable a smooth business. There is a lack of training
and development mechanism in the companies. They do not know how to acknowledge
the recent and latest technologies available in the market and accept the risk in
implementing them. These acts as a barrier where the technology seems to be locked up
(Pandey, Adzman and Rahim 2018).
 Social and Cultural behavior – Due to the lack of the consumer awareness of the product
it acts as a barrier which directly affects the marketing projection negatively. People have
a lack of knowledge about the understanding and benefits of the use of the solar panels
and solar thermals which diminishes the chance of the resistance of the new technology
being used. People who are in the countryside have cultural and religious faith
controversies towards the economic development and sustainability.
 Economic and Financial Barriers – In the early stage of development the solar projects
needs to acquire high incentives which will encourage the entrepreneurs to adopt and
sustain the projects. There is a lack of financial support to the companies. The companies
also need to invest in the research and development departments and import duties and
supportive companies which will be able to support the local manufacturing industries of
solar thermal and solar plants.
 Institutional and Legal barriers – The institutional barriers which mainly include is a lack
of legal framework and regulatory issues. These barriers cause risk of uncertainty in
supporting the solar energy. There is also a lack of proper communication mechanism in

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the employees. Due to the poor research and development culture and non – interference
of the stakeholders companies are unable to grow and build capital. This diminishes the
growth for improvement and improving the negative perception about the latest
technologies available.
 Political Issues – There is a lack of long term policies and political support to diversify
into the use of clean energy. Also due to the continuous change in the government and
reshuffling of the business institutions there is a fear received by the companies from the
government. These factors are acting as a barrier to serve the future planning for the solar
projects and adoption of the other renewable sources of energy.
Opportunities
 The role of policies and subsidies – As it was mentioned earlier that there is a significant
scope of increasing the number of total installed solar heat capacities in UK. The
companies are also targeting to be close enough to their target in reaching the target of
installing 1 solar thermal in the building top in a distance of 20 meters. Due to the various
subsidies schemes which are received from the UK government is helping the companies
to cut the cost of the solar panels which will decrease the trend of the capital cost of solar
technologies used. UK should also double the capacity of installing and production
capacity of their solar thermals.
 Retrofitting existing building – The use of retrofitting buildings is technically possible
whereas it also acts as an opportunity where the company will have to expense less in
regards to the high up front costs. This is a less time consuming permission which is
received from the government. This will help the companies to focus on the voluntary
market with the advance of the financial incentives which are received from the

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government and short term awareness. As promised by the government these incentive
scheme will be removed as soon as the companies gather establishment with the
implementation of the latest technologies
 Role of shareholders and investors in the business – According to the author Herrando
and Markides (2016) the public policies will also help the companies to provide and
accelerated and transparent permission procedures. The present public companies which
are investing in the UK can provide a list of technological solutions regarding the
integration of the solar system which can be applicable to as many building one can. In
case of the house and building where a person stay as a guest or rents for a year or so the
companies can provide an innovative financial model to them which should include the
contracting and leasing models in operating the solar thermal on a timely basis. However
according to Greening and Azapagic (2014)the innovative financial models such as the
crowd funding technology and framework can be used in helping the people with an
expense of high upfront costs.
Conclusion
In order to conclude the above research paper it can be said that the country is developing
with the use of the non renewable sources of energy that is the use of the solar thermals as a
producer of electricity in a wide scale. The companies are also investing huge sum of money in
the research and development department which will facilitate the company to utilize the latest
technologies. UK is also seen to have a growth in their global cumulative installations of the
solar and the thermal panel in the building top. It can be recommended that the country would
see 7700 gig watt of electricity by the year 2020.

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