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Saturday 14 August 2010  
Home ยป UK Status & Prospects

National Programme


The Microgeneration
Strategy was published
in March 2006

The UK's National Programme for photovoltaics consists of the following elements:

  • Research and development, under BERR's Technology Programme and various programmes of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
  • Field trials and demonstrations, under Department for Trade and Industry's (now BERR) programmes
  • Participation in international programmes (EC and IEA)

The overall goal is to develop the capabilities of industry and to encourage sustainable growth in the market by removing barriers to the deployment of PV. Research and development programmes are focused on cost reduction and novel PV materials.

The UK PV Domestic field Trial (PV DFT) is the first widespread monitoring of PV systems in domestic buildings in the UK. It has used the design, construction and monitoring of 28 projects and 474 PV systems to collect information on buildability, reliability, maintainability and PV performance under real UK climate and operating conditions. The results are being added to the PVPS Task 2 database.

Along side the Domestic Field Trial, the UK Large Scale Field Trial for building integrated photovoltaics has been implemented to raise awareness and create confidence in the application of PV and increase UK capabilities in the application of the technology. The final of a total of eighteen high profile projects on public buildings was completed during 2005 and monitoring is ongoing.

The Major Demonstration Programme provided capital grants for quality PV projects between 2002 and 2006.

During 2006, the Government launched its Microgeneration Strategy. The term microgeneration includes solar photovoltaics, small wind turbines, micro hydro, solar thermal, ground/water/air source heat pumps, bio-energy, renewable CHP, micro-CHP (combined heat and power) and fuel cells. The objective of the new Microgeneration Strategy is to create conditions under which microgeneration becomes a realistic alternative or supplementary energy generation source for the householder, communities and small businesses. A new grants programme forms part of the implementation of the strategy.