Solar power is cheap, clean, and ready to scale -- so why is Scotland still whispering about it? George Baxter shares why it's time to speak up and embrace the energy revolution.
A Minister once took me aside at an event and whispered in my ear, "you know George, I quite like wind turbines and solar farms," to which I whispered back, "why are you whispering it, Minister? Why not say it out loud?" It was a funny moment, as it dawned that they couldn't think of a single reason why not.
Amid the current hailstorm of guff that says renewables and action on climate change are bad, and climate-wrecking fossil fuel dependency is somehow 'good' - it is time that the overwhelming majority of people who support renewable energy and energy responsibility also turned that whisper into a shout from the rooftops.
I can say that with confidence as the benefits of renewables are backed with bona fide factual evidence. Renewables are cheap, it is the price of gas and an arcane retail trading system that drives up bills. When renewable energy dominates, prices tumble. In the opposing corner lies the rotting pile of misinformation and conspiracy fantasies that fossil fuel advocates benefit from. And when Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent gas prices stratospheric, we all felt the reality shock.
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Green technologies and energy storage create good jobs. Over 21,000 people are employed in solar and grid-scale storage across the UK already, plus another 55,000 in the wind power sector.
Renewable energy is home-grown - we don't need to rely on importing energy from the Middle East, the United States or Russia for oil, gas or indeed uranium. Even in the fantasyland where tackling climate change is as misguided as Reform's Richard Tice likes to proclaim - for political, social and economic reasons it makes sense to be as self-sufficient in energy as possible.
While the worst elements of the fossil industry shovel millions of pounds to Reform, most reasonable people might expect the energy transition to be accelerated to deliver more renewable jobs, not have the process slowed down.
Scotland's energy 'debates' - if you can call them that - often just ignore solar, yet it has huge potential to play a far greater role in the energy mix. It also complements wind because it is often sunny when the wind is blowing less. The east of Scotland has similar amounts of sunshine as far south in the UK as Birmingham.
None of this relies on any great leap of technology. It's available here and now - and it's all the cheapest it's ever been. Every building with solar panels, if accompanied by a domestic-scale battery system, can also act as a form of 'baseload' for those properties, soaking up excess energy when demand is low and pumping it back out when it's needed. Making the best use of this energy reduces cost for the whole nation.
Solar is the cheapest form of energy by some distance. On homes and businesses, it can cut bills dramatically. So roof-mounted solar panels should be absolutely everywhere and are no more of an 'eyesore' than any sloping roof.
Though it may come as a surprise to some, solar farms work well in Scotland. The problem is that we have nowhere near enough of them. Farming can continue - and in many cases they are keeping farmers in business by providing a stable and reliable income, guarded from market whims and crops being damaged by adverse weather. So solar farms aren't a threat to food security, they bolster it.
Solar farms can support sheep grazing, honey production and other crops with 'agrivoltaics' growing around the world. They can also be havens for wildlife, being fantastic habitats for insects, birds and mammals alike. And by taking the land out of intensive application of fertilizer and pesticides, soil quality can recover, too.
I have yet to come across a major groundswell of alarm and fear over the use of polytunnels in rural Scotland - yet a solar farm has a far more positive impact on the land and to my eye, looks nicer.
When Cabinet Secretary Gillian Martin confirmed a Scottish Government ambition for 6000 Megawatts of solar generation capacity by 2030 back in 2023, this was warmly welcomed by the industry. After all, targets drive focus and policy alignment, and that means results.
Frustratingly, this goal is yet to be confirmed in the Scottish Government's long-awaited Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.
But the solar industry is not just waiting. It is cracking on. Today there may be less than 100 megawatts of solar farms in Scotland but 300MW more is currently under construction. Moreover, there is a very healthy pipeline of projects that would go well towards delivering the 6000MW ambition, which covers both rooftop and solar farms. Importantly, the amount of land needed to hit these targets is tiny, just 0.07% of Scottish land. That's four times less than the amount of land we have given over to golf courses.
Being concerned about anything new in your community is understandable. But it says a lot that surveys have found solar farms are most popular close to where they have been built already. Once a project is complete, fear and misapprehension simply falls away and it becomes just another part of the landscape. There should never be a free pass though. Our industry has to deliver on responsible development and deliver to high standards, like all industry should - and in renewables, industry leadership is committed to that.
My best conversations are with young people who wonder what the fuss is about - most of them want us to just bloody well get on with it.
The Scottish solar industry is coming together for the first time since Covid on 11 November, at the COSLA centre in Edinburgh. You can find out more about the Future of Solar and Storage in Scotland conference here.