Analysis of Solar Energy Policy in the UK: A Green Engineering Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of solar energy policies in the UK, focusing on the evolution of these policies, challenges, and the economic factors influencing their implementation. It examines the role of the UK government through the Energy White Paper of 2007 and the Low Carbon Transition Plan of 2009, and the impact of the Renewable Obligations in 2002. The report also discusses the use of photovoltaic cells and other renewable energy sources, the economic arguments surrounding solar energy, and the government programs designed to promote its adoption, such as grant policies and initiatives for schools. The analysis highlights the potential of solar power, its contribution to the UK's energy goals, and the statistical values of PV solar power contribution in the grid, while also acknowledging the challenges and debates related to cost, efficiency, and supply fluctuations. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of patience and long-term perspective in the development of solar energy technology and its integration into the UK's energy infrastructure.

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Introduction
The UK has some of the potential and rich resources if properly captured can make significant
contribution to the energy goals that have been set for long term in relation to the climate change
and security supply. Solar power had represented a very insignificant part in the production of
electricity in the UK until the year 2011. All living organisms and social setups are normally
considered to be physical systems. In this context, capitalism is no exception and its ignorance
can result in dire consequences. The physical engine of capital continues to destroy methane and
carbon sinks thereby releasing gases of the greenhouse.
It is known to wreak havoc with biodiversity, ecosystem and human safety. By the year 2006,
some experts in the UK had estimated through modeling a global concentration of CO2 to the
level considered dangerous to climate change in case the issue is not handled in advance. While
there have been imaginations on the ecological capitalism, the creation of any kind of the re-
humanized nature within the context of capitalism may not be effectively achieved without
having an increase in the entropy and physical wastes as had been identified by some scholars
before(Warren 2014).

Figure 1: Use of solar power energy trend in the graphical analysis(Candelise, Winskel and
Gross 2013).
In one of his literary sources that have been considered influential, The Future of the Market; the
writer seeks the beginning of new kind of socialist project in the process of re-moralizing
allocation of the resources that are viewed as thin democracy permitted by markets. The
conclusion from this point of view is that the further evolution of any society can only be
possible in the cases where the economic rationality is embedded firmly in a complex system of
social set up.
One of the technologies that have been recognized by the white paper is Photovoltaic(PV) cells.
The have been PV trials in the field for both large scale and domestic use. In such projects,
energy must be at the central point. The physical characteristics of such fixed infrastructure tend
to exemplify the possible challenges that it faces. For proper reasons, nuclear energy is never
acceptable but instead, solar energy among other renewable sources is embraced. It is actually
from the concept of renewable sources of energy that alternatives of Altvaters of low impact,
democratically-regulated social infrastructure, and entropy –minimizing was developed. Any
option that is developed must, therefore, start from the present state. This particular essay
describes how the enactment of policies on the use of solar energy has been promoted and
suppressed the process in equal measure.
In order to tap the potential of energy production ,the UK government has come up with energy
policies as spelt out in Energy White Paper of May 2007 and Low Carbon Transition Plan of
July 200.
Solar power energy policy issues

This is a type of energy whereby the transfer of the energy itself in the process of production is
considered too little to contribute to the depletion of the resources. The concept of renewable
energy started its development in the late seventies. This was after the discovery of the
weaknesses of the fossil fuels in the UK. Among the disadvantages of fossil fuels including
landfills. In the year 2000, there was an official identification of the renewable sources of energy
in the UK by the Utility Act. In these lists were wind energy, H.E.P, and solar energy. This
initially also considered the small-sized firms that had been under the control of oligopoly and
was made up of the by-products chain operations from various industries. The generation of solar
energy utilized components like photovoltaic solar panels.
It is important to note that none of the sources has reached the maximum level of the research,
not even solar energy technology itself. The research of the various technology concepts is at the
infant stages with few having established accumulation fields. In addition, what has been
considered as renewable energy can be re-defined opportunistically and continually. Meanwhile,
the term sustainability has never had very stable definitions though it has been interchangeably
used with the term renewable in the context of solar power technology applications. In this
regard, there are possibly two powerful arguments in the determination of the social and political
technology of transformation(White, Lunnan, Nybakk and Kulisic 2013).
One of these arguments stresses the potential of small scale sustainable community initiatives to
the services that democratize and decentralize control of energy. This argument though
considered beaming for the developing countries; some of its aspect of the application can be
traced in the UK energy sector. It is characterized by the undermining factors of transmission
losses and the grid defectives with the decentralized energy generation. This particular loses
seriously impact the commercial deals with solar power energy. The other argument that finds its

root within a similar situation is the social value of self-reliance. This can be expressed at any
social scale with a practical approach. There is a very wide gap between self-reliance and
socialism, as a result, the industrial sector feels the impact in the provision of labor.
Supply of security would be considered to be one of the basic socialist securities on which
renewable energy does not impose challenges too but which existing technology of capitalists
does. The economic efficiency of solar energy sources has been continuously under the attack.
These attacks basically emanate from the three grounds. One of these attacks touches on the
operating cost of the solar power technology which is argued to be much higher as compared to
fossil fuels. This has made the purchase of the solar power equipment to be arguably low making
the commercial sectors to shift on other viable options. The concern, therefore, is unreliability
and lack of security of renewable energy in both the two periods of generation-peak and base.
The highlights also focus on the technical challenges and the cost of having decentralized
generators which are compatible with the network of electricity.
Against the first criticism that touches on the cost, it is important to understand that all the
technologies that involve energy production require properly laid down securities until learning
effects and scale economies are realized. The subsidies that are being provided for the
development and research on the technologies of the solar power energy are minute fractions as
compared to those which had been used historically on the nuclear technology and other fossil
fuels. There is a change in the capital costs for overtime(Polzin, Migendt, Täube and von 2015).
The industrial sectors must, therefore, exercise a lot of humility and patience as the solar power
energy sector seeks to ground itself.

This is because solar energy technology unlike other sources of energy is currently being created
in the OECD before they are transferred to the countries that are developing. While in these
countries, reverse engineering is done before they can be re-exported to the original countries.
The debate over the cost will never be effectively resolved up to the point when the total cost
over the entire life of all other sources of generation is reasonably computed on the grounds of
optimal scale. Interesting to note is that the secrecy with which energy from the nuclear is
shrouded, the research has never been carried out(Candelise, Winskel and Gross 2013).
The other obligation is that solar power technology can only walk on the path energy scenario as
a result of its physical impossibility not to mention the prohibitive capital costs in the provision
of excess capacity that needs to cover fluctuations in the supply and demand. This is also
considered in the provision of cover for repair and maintenance(Nolden 2013). Against this
claim, it can be argued that optimal mixes of any renewable energy just like solar power can
potentially meet fluctuations in ways that are predictable especially after the problem of batteries
for storage has been passed from the stage of research to development phase. Also in the
argument is that the potential of solar power energy technologies has been physically and
deliberately underestimated. This particular potential is however huge considering that the use of
solar power can provide over 30 percent of the electricity to the UK.
Programs of the Government in relation to solar energy Use
Grant policies
The UK's governing body initiative Energy Saving Trust is normally responsible for the
administration of the grants to the photovoltaic systems of photovoltaic. This is used to facilitate
both the thermal and electricity generators. Such policies and initiatives promote the uptake of

solar power energy. There is estimation by the Low Carbon Building Programme an installation
for the average size to cost between £5,000–£8,000 in the production. This will translate to the
annual saving value between £150 and £200 for the power range 1.5 and 3 kWp.The UK
government is also working on an initiative of providing 100 schools across the country with
solar panels under the programme of Green Energy for Schools(Bridge, Bouzarovski, Bradshaw
and Eyre 2013). Under this programme, the first school that is located in Wales had received the
solar panels worth £20,000. The panels are estimated to provide an equivalent of 3,000 kW·h
electric power for every year.
Section 5.3.5 of Energy White Paper of May 2007 and Low Carbon Transition Plan of July
2009.
The UK government has recognized the potential contributions of the renewables to the
objectives of the UK’s energy and in regard to the matter, there was introduction of Renewable
Obligations in 2002.This obligation was started to support and drive the growth of renewable
generations. This obligation has allowed for the generation of high cost electricity to compete
favorably with the fossil fuel based electricity generation. The government demonstrated its
commitment further to the renewable productions by setting a target of 10% electricity
generation by the year 2010 with an aspiration of doubling it come 2020.
Section 6.11 of Energy White Paper of May 2007 and Low Carbon Transition Plan of July
2009.
This policy allows for the development of the low carbon energy technologies which apply to all
sectors of energy. These technological initiatives can either be small or large. The establishment
can either be for the community households, individual or even public sector. Some of the

remarkable technologies in the solar energy production include the use of fuel cells and
photovoltaic cells. The generation of the solar power can only be considered as an estimate due
to the nature of every site of solar that experiences its own weather, an angle which is in relation
to the sun and the individual sitting. The generated power can never reach the connection level to
the grid from all sites.
This makes the calculation of the amount generated to the grid by the government to be
challenging. The results that are normally obtained from the respective sites will combine
weather reports from various parts of the UK and the compiling of the results will involve simple
addition of the average values per given year(Abdmouleh, Alammari and Gastli 2015). The
summary table that has been illustrated below is an indication of the production of the electricity
from the solar panels expressed as a percentage of the final consumption of electricity in the
country. This should however not be treated as the gross supply to the national grid. The
numbers that have been presented are subject to update by the government by the UK. The
average time lag of half a year has been in consideration to have the entire backlog completed in
the processing of equivalent installations.
Table 1: Statistical values of the PV solar power contribution in the grid(Abdmouleh, Alammari
and Gastli 2015)

However because of the government commitment to ensure sufficient supply of energy, certain
policies allow for the importation of biogas. Such policies that allow for the importation of the
gas do not in any way support the uptake of the solar energy.
Economic factors that promote the use of solar energy
 Implementation of the rural electrification program that demand for more energy sources.
According to this program, every homestead should be connected to the electricity. For
those areas that are remote, use of PV solar panels are very appropriate.
 Emergence of small scale industries and business like barber shops that demand use of
solar energy
Economic factors that do not support uptake
Use of other sources of electricity like HEP do not support the uptake of PV solar panels. In this
industries, the amount of power require per hour is too huge to be provided by solar panels.
Installation of wind power at specific location competes with the solar power energy installation.
Sector by sector consideration
Domestic consumption of solar power energy is treated as the primary ground for perfection
before the products can be exported. One of the key ways that can be used by the analysts to
depoliticize policy is through sector by sector consideration of the structure of energy. There has
been a consumption of the idea by the drama of environmental tension and privatization. In the
case of the energy company operations, there is mixed up of various energy sources and markets.
This is not only limited to the energy company but industrial capital as a whole(Kern, Kuzemko
and Mitchell 2014). It has been discovered that there is a proper combination of the energy

sources by the companies in different permutations and coordination of the investment of the
energy as opposed to the initiatives by the state on the policy of energy. Prior to this
aggressiveness, there was structuring of the energy sector as a monopoly at every phase of
production. The current structure is like an hourglass.
The Individual companies or industrial sectors are coming out to be responsible for shaping the
structure of the energy in the UK and it basically made of the political class. The scandals and
the crises that normally draw the attention of the public are usually contradictory to the roles that
they play. For example, Shell's Lord Oxburgh is not to be one of the high profile advocates for
the urgency of the issues related to climate change. What is contradicting is that data by
Henderson Global Investors ranks BP and Shell to be responsible for almost 40 percent of the
total emission of CO2 gas. The commercial sectors are motivated in the uptake of this
technology through productive policy formulation that creates a conducive atmosphere on solar
power utilities.
Conclusion
The UK government has made significant steps from intervening in technologies, prices, and
quantities from marginal transfers and fiscal mechanisms to renewable energy. Is the government
engaging in an activity of collective denial? Can this be treated as a weak prisoner of capital?
While the government has been purporting to be consultative with the public as for the case of
2006 program, the presentation of the issue is just a mere choice between the expanding solar
power energy use and imported gas. The consultation has been pre-empted crudely by the
concerned authorities. The debate that comes up does not put into consideration or does not

acknowledge the full relevance of solar power as one of the contributors in the major 60 percent
of carbon emission reduction in the country(Nejat et al.2015).
This consultation must be revised and be restructured to accommodate the PV cell importation
just as the case of imported gas. The withdrawal of the state from the production and energy
distribution and the energy policy architecture which is actually fractured has undermined the
renewable energy sector especially the use of solar energy. The available interests have actually
shot themselves in the foot as a result of the present political and economic arrangement that is
bureaucratic. The discourse of the business and state needs to be properly addressed not in its
cynicism alone but also in its indifference. The destruction of the policy on energy and the
subsequent entry of the renewable energy are considered to step in the policy formulation and
implementation but are troubling in the transformation(Seyfang, Park and Smith 2013).
This particular discourse has been in co-existence with abusive dismissal and devaluation that
must be corrected by the use of economic values. This will increase the uptake of the solar power
energy at all levels of operation-domestic, industrial and commercial. The state, therefore, cedes
to diffuse a set of interest in the private sector to improve on the capacity of PV solar power use.
This is expected to steer the public debate on the privatization of the policies which will be
uncontested and practically naturalized.

References
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