Solar powers 100 per cent of Scottish homes in April

Last month, solar power provided enough electricity to meet the needs of more than 100 per cent of homes in Scotland, new data has revealed.

For homes fitted with solar panels, there was enough sunshine to generate an estimated 113 per cent of the electricity needs of an average home in Edinburgh, 111 per cent in Aberdeen, and 106 per cent in Glasgow.

The figures, analysed by WWF Scotland, also show that wind turbines in Scotland generated enough electricity on average to supply the electrical needs of 69 per cent of Scottish households.

Scotland’s total electricity consumption for April was 2,080,445MWh. Therefore, wind power generated 29 per cent of Scotland’s total electricity consumption – including homes, business and industry – for the month.

WWF Scotland’s director Lang Banks urged homes and businesses with south-facing roofs to “seriously consider switching on to the full power of solar power”.

“Similarly, there is no reason why Scotland should not be home to commercial-scale solar farms,” he continued.

“During the month, Scotland’s wind turbines generated enough output to supply the electricity needs of over 1.5 million homes. So as we approach the period of the year where winds are less powerful, it’s great to see the potential of solar to also contribute to our energy needs.

“With the announcement last week by Tesla of a new type of battery to store solar energy, more of the barriers to powering our homes and businesses using 100 per cent renewable energy are finally being removed.”

In Scotland, there are currently more than 35,000 homes and 600 business premises that currently have solar PV arrays fitted to them.

In April last year, a group of academics from the University of Edinburgh suggested that solar generation could meet one sixth of Scotland’s electricity needs by 2025.