Published: 30 Jul 2021, 11:14
Installations of solar PV as part of the Green Homes Grant have risen by over 100 since March. Image: Image: Maria Godfrida (Pixabay).
Installations of solar PV under the Local Authority Delivery of the Green Homes Grant have risen, although the technology still represents just 5% of total installations.
Data released by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) detailing low carbon installations made as part of the Green Homes Grant up until the end of May 2021 show that there were 109 installations of solar PV, up from the four as of the end of March.
This represents just 5% of the total low carbon technology installations however, with a total of 2,418 installations made. Additionally, a further 11,664 households have been identified for funding under the Local Authority Delivery Phase One – split into 1A and 1B – and are therefore expected to receive an installation.
Solar thermal has also seen low installation numbers under the scheme, with 24 installations, or 1%. Installations of low carbon heating as a whole came in at 274, or 11%.
While the Local Authority Delivery of the scheme has been celebrated as a relative success – with the government in March unveiling an additional £300 million in funding for domestic home upgrades split across the Local Authority Delivery and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator – the voucher segment saw a number of challenges before its early closure.
A raft of administrative problems led to delays in payments and repeated calls for improvements to the scheme, while statistics published earlier this year showed that less than a sixth of the initial projected 600,000 homes received vouchers.