Keir Starmer’s Labour government has set out a new blueprint dubbed the “rooftop revolution,” which is expected to see solar panels put on millions of homes to cut energy bills and fight climate change. In a bid to push his pledge even further, the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, gave three big solar farms in the east of England the green light after they had been turned down earlier by Tory ministers.

Three Big Solar Farms Get the Green Light

These are the approved farms: Gate Burton, in Lincolnshire; Sunnica’s energy farm is on the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border; and Mallard Pass is on the Lincolnshire-Rutland border. The farms will offer about two-thirds of the solar energy installed last year on rooftops and the ground.

LIGHTING THE WAY FOR SOLAR PANELS

Ahead of Wednesday’s royal address, which is expected to announce the establishment of a new public-owned energy company, GB Energy, ministers are working with the building industry to make it easier for people to either buy new homes with pre-installed solar panels or add them to existing properties. Ministers are reportedly in the process of drawing up new solar-related standards that will be required in new-build properties from next year.

At present, it is not required to get a formal permission for placing solar panels, but there are some restrictions on their installation site and height. These restrictions will also apply to conservation areas and listed buildings. The government is believed to be working on reducing these rules to facilitate the installation of solar panels.

A pledge to increase solar power

Ed Miliband vowed to treble the UK’s solar power by 2030 and double onshore wind with a quadrupling of the amount of offshore wind power. He said: “I want to unleash a UK solar rooftop revolution.”. We will be encouraging builders and homeowners in whatever way we can to deliver this win-win technology to millions of addresses in the UK so people can provide their own electricity, cut their bills and at the same time help fight climate change”.

Taking on the Nimbys

Miliband’s aides also signaled that the new administration was ready to take on the critics of placing more and more solar panels around the country. He also removed an apparent Tory ‘unofficial’ policy of not building any new onshore wind farms.

Positive Reactions from Energy Experts

Energy experts in the UK received with delight the swiftness of Miliband on solar power, which they believe will correct a balance desperately needed in the use of Britain’s renewable energy resources. Most of the renewable energy is coming from the North and has to be transmitted to the South, where the demand is high. However, the transmission lines are often jammed, with the result that there are power cuts right from the north to the south. “In the South, meanwhile, gas generators have to be switched on to provide the electricity supply cut off by the increasingly frequent droughts. To everyone, of course, gas can be ruinously expensive – particularly, as we all know, since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia – so solar in the South is going to alleviate a serious problem. It will, in fact, reduce the cost of power, something we need desperately to see happen,” said Sugandha Srivastav from Oxford University’s Smith School of Enterprise and Environment.

The new solar farms are also set to be part of the country’s expanded ability to produce electricity from the sun. According to Hamish Beath, an energy consultant from Imperial College London, “The three farms will have a capacity of around 1.35 gigawatts, which is almost 10% of current capacity – so this is very welcome.”

Local Opposition

Despite the welcome news, not everyone in politics is happy with the decision. Alicia Kearns, the Tory MP for Rutland and Stamford, said she was “utterly appalled” upon receiving the news that the Mallard Pass farm had been given the green light. The government responded by saying that the move is necessary because it is going to provide clean energy powering approximately 92,000 homes over a 60-year time span.

Upgrading the Grid of the Nation

Experts also say that opening more giant solar farms must quickly be followed by improvements to the National Grid. Srivastav added, “We need to think urgently about how we transmit and distribute electricity. The demand for power is only going to go up as we electrify society, and if we cannot get electricity to where it needs to be, we will be in an untenable situation.”

Looking Ahead

Before the speech of the King, Keir Starmer underlined his priorities: the stimulation of an economic growth through a green energy revolution for wealth subsequently used to reach betterment of public services. The speech will announce a bill to impose tight new rules on spending and finally put the role of the Office for Budget Responsibility on a statutory footing to guarantee big fiscal announcements are properly scrutinized.

The plans will also feature in a speech that will lay out a national register of children not in school, so as to not see them join the “lost Covid generation”. It will be the duty of the councils to trace the “ghost children” and log those who are being home-schooled. An education bill will also confirm the offering of a breakfast club to every primary school and limiting the possibility of branded items of clothing to three, thus supporting family budgets, on a statutory basis.

“There is no time to waste, so we shall hit the ground running with the laws we will need to rebuild our country for the long term. From energy to planning to unbreakable fiscal rules, my government is deadly serious about delivering the stability which is going to turbocharge growth and create wealth in all corners of the United Kingdom.” —Prime Minister Starmer

It will be a package of bills on more houses, better public transport, and devolution of powers to local leaders.