Solar Panels

Question

15:18:00

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they intend to take to ensure that all new-build commercial and industrial premises in England are fitted with solar panels.

My Lords, the Future Homes and Building Standards consultation, setting out proposals for new energy efficiency standards, was published at the end of 2023. It included proposals for fitting new, non-domestic premises with solar panels. The consultation received over 2,000 responses. We have carefully considered the feedback received and, while I do not want to pre-judge our detailed policy announcement, I can say that this Government recognise the vital role of rooftop solar in contributing to the clean energy mission and that we are therefore keen to see solar panels deployed on all buildings where it is appropriate and practical. We intend to publish the government response in the coming months.

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for her reply; I know how passionately she feels about this issue. Is she aware that only a ridiculously small number of industrial and commercial premises are fitted with solar panels? There has been just too little urgency for many years to change that outrageous state of affairs. I live near what is called the largest logistics park in Europe and have been informed that there are no solar panels on any of the vast number of buildings that make up the park. Can the Government ensure that this national scandal is treated as a matter of urgency?

I thank my noble friend for his comments. Of course, it is vital that we get on now and get this moving as quickly as possible. The future buildings standards consultation outlined a number of proposals for new non-domestic buildings and we need to expand that to existing non-domestic buildings. We are ambitious and believe that the standards we set are technically achievable and affordable across all sites. We are working very closely with colleagues in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to confirm the technical detail of these standards. As soon as we can, we will make sure that we do what is necessary to get this out to as many non-domestic buildings as possible. Your Lordships have my personal commitment to that, as the noble Lord kindly said.

My Lords, I refer to my interests in the register. Can the Government look also at all government buildings, because there are a lot of savings we can make? I am pleased to say that Leicester City Council has started to look at how it can issue tenders for solar on its properties in the city.

I thank the noble Baroness and congratulate Leicester on the work it is doing in this space. It is important to say that current standards, introduced in December 2021, already encourage the use of solar panels in non-domestic buildings, and they are expected to produce around 27% lower carbon emissions compared with those built to the previous standards. To meet the 2021 standards, they are expected to be built with very high fabric standards and improved building services, including heat pumps and solar panels. When we make our announcement, we will encourage as many non-domestic building owners as possible to take that on board and to use every technique they can to improve the standards they work to, including on government buildings.

My Lords, I declare my interest as chair of Peers for the Planet. The Minister’s remarks about the consultation and its results were extremely encouraging and I am grateful to her for them. She spoke about the role of solar panels in the Government’s clean energy mission, but does she agree with me that, particularly for industrial buildings, the fitting of solar panels makes economic and financial sense and gives the people working in those businesses and buildings both energy sufficiency and lower bills?

I agree with the noble Baroness that the fitting of more efficient energy methods contributes to both the energy security of our country and the efficiency of those buildings. It is very important that we focus on that as much as we can and we will do all we can to encourage that with non-domestic buildings. Some technical issues came up as part of the consultation responses—we had 2,000 responses, including some on the fitting of solar panels to roofs and other efficiency measures—and it is important that we look at them before we issue our statement.

My Lords, one of the big challenges in encouraging more solar panels on large industrial premises is the lack of ability to connect to the national grid. I am sure that the Government are aware of that challenge, but what are they going to do about it?

The noble Baroness raises a very important question for all the growth that we are predicting for our country. My colleagues in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero are working very closely with the national grid to improve grid capacity; it will be essential to have that going forward. We need to make sure that that is the case, both to drive the growth that we want to see, because energy is vital to that, and to keep our energy security for the country the way we want it as we grow the economy.

My Lords, there is currently a potential conflict between the Government’s desire to ensure all rental homes have a minimum EPC energy efficiency rating of C and planning restrictions for buildings that are either listed or in a conservation zone. This is forcing many housing associations to look at selling many affected but much-needed affordable homes. What will the Government do to address this issue?

We have had issues around energy efficiency improvements to heritage and listed buildings. It is important to get the balance here right, though. Of course, we want to drive energy efficiency and we will be working with all the conservation associations, including Historic England, to look at what more we can do to drive energy efficiency as effectively as possible while still preserving the very important heritage aspects of the buildings in this country.

My Lords, could the Government consider making it a legal requirement? Even the terrible Government of the past 14 years tried to encourage people. But that does not work. You need to make it a legal requirement. And it is popular. I do not understand why this Government do not go for a popular policy for a change.

We have a whole range of popular policies, which, I suggest, is why we are here and the other side are not. We are considering measures. We put extra measures into the national planning policy framework and we will continue to do what we can. I like to encourage people where possible. If that does not work, we may have to look again. It is very important that we do everything we can to sell the benefits of having solar panels and other energy-efficient methods of generating heat and other forms of energy and we will continue to do that.

My Lords, it is frequently quoted that ground-mounted solar installations take over 0.1% of UK land, which will increase to 0.3% when our net zero ambitions are met. However, I have figures that suggest that 0.44% of UK land is already committed for ground- mounted installations, with the geographical distribution concentrated in the breadbasket of south and east England. This means that Nottinghamshire, for example, is likely to have 4% of its ground area covered with solar panels. The use of land, as well, is disproportionate; important grade 2 and grade 3 agricultural land is being used. Is this consistent with His Majesty’s Government’s commitment to food security?

My Lords, the Government are being quite clear on this: while we support ground solar installations, premium grade agricultural land should not be used for that purpose. We are very clear on that point and we continue to strive for the right balance right between ground-based solar and roof solar.

My Lords, can the Minister tell the House when the Government intend to publish their much-anticipated solar road map and whether that road map will contain a detailed plan to support investment in domestic UK solar supply chains and manufacturing?

The noble Lord makes a very important point. I am very interested in supply chains. Some fantastic, innovative technology is being developed in this country that I think will take us a long way ahead. There are significant issues about developing our manufacturing capability here, but we are working very closely with our colleagues in DBT and DSIT to do what we can to promote that. I cannot give the noble Lord an exact date for the solar road map, but I will come back to him in writing on that.