CIG has learned that the head of Sharp Corp’s UK solar division recently said in a telephone interview that it was likely that after the British government’s recent announcement that it would guarantee above market prices for clean and renewable power sources, the solar sector could see 50-fold growth, and create thousands of jobs.
Photovoltaic panels, which generate power when exposed to sunlight, will receive the most substantial subsidies and could encourage the installation of 250MW’s of panels during 2011 as compared to only 5 to 6 MW’s in 2009.
According to an executive with Sharp Corp., that would equate to 100,000 photovoltaic installed homes a year, which CIG believes he said would, due to all the investment and feed-in tariffs, be able to create an industry which would have around 30,000 new jobs across the sector, including builders and installers.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government recently announced that from 1st April it would reward home owners who produce their own electricity with guaranteed prices. The plan aims to increase the portion of UK electricity generated from renewable sources to about 30% by 2020 from the current 5.5% CIG was informed.
Adding solar panels to an existing rooftop from April 1 will earn 41 pence (61 U.S. cents) per kilowatt hour generated. The government announced.
