Lang Banks WWF Scotland

Scotland solar capacity has increase by 32% since the end of 2013 taking their grand total to 140MW’s of solar power installed. Over 35 000 Scottish homes and 600 business now have solar power installed.

“The total installed solar capacity may be small when compared to wind energy, but together these solar panels are helping to prevent thousands of tonnes of climate-damaging emissions being emitted every year,” said Lang Banks; director of WWF Scotland. “The great thing about solar is that it can deployed easily and quickly in towns and cities or in places not suitable for wind turbines. Solar is also complimentary to wind and can share sites and grid connections,”

According to WWF Scotland, Lightsource Renewable Energy and the Solar Trade Association, Scotland has seen a 6900% increase in solar power capacity since 2010 – and they believe more can still be done. The organisations are encouraging the Scottish Government to throw their weight behind solar as they have behind other renewables.

“Alongside energy saving measures, renewable energy technologies like solar and wind will be important to enabling Scotland meet its climate change targets. We call upon the Scottish Government to do all that it can to help ensure Scotland switches on to the full potential of solar power,” said Mr. Banks. “With 2015 being a critical year for addressing climate change internationally, it’s vital that Scotland continues to press ahead with plans to harness even greater amounts of clean energy.”

Leonie Greene from the Solar Trade Association has said the same as Mr Banks. She said: “Nearly 600,000 households have gone solar across the UK of which 5% are in Scotland. But, we’d like to see Scotland fully share in the many benefits solar can provide. The Scottish government has provided world class leadership on renewable energy so we urge them to throw their weight behind solar too. No other energy technology has delivered the scale of cost reductions seen in solar and no other technology has empowered such vast numbers of everyday people to take control of their power supply. It is vital to retain this momentum.”

Wind energy also had a great year in Scotland with wind energy alone providing enough clean energy to power 98% of Scottish homes – equivalent to 2.36 million households.

 

 

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