2020 Vision solar supply chain would come from within the U . K ., and the percentage is expected to rise to 71 % by 2030 .
“ We ’ re trying to bust a myth here ,” Cosh said . “ Solar contributes to the British economy because British supply chains do most of the balance of plant .”
Also noteworthy in terms of the near future outlook , is the industry is actually looking to scale-back governmental assistance for renewable energy . Solar farms are projected to be less expensive than new gas plants by 2018 and even fall below wholesale electricity by 2024 . With the costs decreasing , it would seem the industry could stand on its own .
“ We believe that government support for solar energy should come down gradually , in line with falling costs , until solar electricity is consistently the same price as the market price for electricity ,” Paul Barwell , chief executive of the Solar Trade Alliance , said . “ Once we have reached that point — what we call solar independence — solar no longer needs any support and will , with time , bring down energy bills . But it will need stable , gradually declining , support to get there .” While the main focus of the report is 2020 , it also provides an outlook until 2030 , which could see the industry double once more .
Strong Support As solar growth is good for economic growth , there is strong policy support behind its development .
One such case of this can be found in Austin , Texas . Texas , a state known for its big oil production , might seem an unlikely place to heartily support solar , but Austin is certainly jumping on board . The city has set aggressive goals to have 600 MW of utility scale solar by 2017 and 200 MW of rooftop solar by 2020 .
The size of the solar industry is set to double by 2020
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