Is the government doing enough to make renewables accessible?

Our recent survey of public attitudes and opinions on climate change uncovered some interesting trends and perceptions on who should take the most responsibility for making renewables more accessible to homeowners.

More than half of respondents (63%) believe that the ultimate responsibility lies chiefly with the UK government. Only 28% of those surveyed believed the UK government is doing enough to make renewables like solar PV more accessible to homeowners, while 44% and 19% respectively disagree or strongly disagree that enough is being done.

However, the UK as a whole is making strides in fighting climate change; it was the first country in the world to introduce Net Zero targets, which have been put into legislation ready for 2050, and this year we’ve seen the Future Homes Standard, which will move the UK towards its Net Zero target by banning the use of fossil fuel-powered appliances like gas boilers in new homes from 2025.

The government’s original Feed-In Tariff achieved its goal of introducing solar PV to the market, but we’ll also see new building regulations this year that will make homes much more sustainable, with energy use in new builds reduced by up to 80% by 2025.

The new Smart Export Guarantee will also begin replace this tariff, which many people might not yet know about. Under this scheme, homeowners with solar panels installed will be able to sell surplus energy back to the marketplace, which will lead to increased competition between electricity suppliers to provide the most attractive rates to customers.

Once this model is combined with battery storage so we can store energy to use later, smart plugs which only switch things on when you use them, and peer-to-peer energy where you can sell your surplus to neighbours across the road, we’ll be making very significant strides in sustainable homes.

However, we, as an industry, need to make sure more people know these technologies are coming.

Keep checking back on our blog for more insights on climate change attitudes and opinions, or download the full research paper here.