Open AccessSolar PV yield and electricity generation in the UK
Author(s) -
Mason Nigel B.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
iet renewable power generation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.005
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1752-1424
pISSN - 1752-1416
DOI - 10.1049/iet-rpg.2015.0550
Subject(s) - photovoltaic system , electricity , yield (engineering) , environmental science , electricity generation , consumption (sociology) , nameplate capacity , power consumption , agricultural economics , meteorology , engineering , power (physics) , economics , electrical engineering , geography , physics , social science , quantum mechanics , sociology , thermodynamics
The annual yield for solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity generation in the UK is calculated for the installed capacity at the end of 2014 and found to be close to 960 kWh/kWp. This value is derived by averaging expected PV yield in different regions of the UK, weighted according to the regionally installed generating capacity from UK government statistics and has an estimated uncertainty of ±5%. The mean generating yield can vary with time as newly deployed PV may change the regional distribution of installed power and the variation over the period 2010–2014 is charted. The installed generating capacity at September 2015 was 8.19 GWp and, based on the above yield, should generate around 7860 GWh of electricity in a typical year or 2.6% of UK consumption (2014). Based on current trends, Solar PV electricity should exceed 3% of UK consumption in 2016.