Solar power incentives a must for UK - Sharp

By Nina Chestney

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's solar energy sector will continue to lag behind the rest of Europe if government incentives do not support investment, the head of Sharp Electronics' UK solar division told Reuters on Monday.

Andrew Lee, general manager at Sharp Energy Solution Europe, said the company has invested 21 billion pounds to date in production capacity at its PV module site in Wrexham, North Wales.

"The UK can and should be the global leader in renewable energy manufacture," Lee said in an interview at a meeting in London between photovoltaic (PV) solar manufacturers and Members of Parliament.

"It might be one of the world's leading powers but without 'feed-in' tariffs it will continue to be the poor man of Europe."

PV panels made at the 220 megawatt per year facility in Wrexham could potentially power 750,000 homes but less than 1 percent of them have been fitted onto installations in Britain. Most are shipped abroad for use in Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

PV technology uses solar cells as building blocks to convert sunlight into electricity. The cells are assembled into modules or panels which can be mounted on buildings, arrayed in open spaces, or placed on trackers to follow the sun.

CLEAN ENERGY CASHBACK

The government plans to introduce what it calls a "clean energy cashback" or "feed-in" tariff from April 2010, under which small-scale energy producers -- including homeowners -- are paid an above-market rate for every unit of power produced from solar panels or wind turbines.