Letter to The Herald in response to: "No more cash for solar panels without heat system upgrade"

This letter from Morag Watson, Director of Policy at Scottish Renewables, first appeared in The Herald newspaper on August 17 in response to an article "No more cash for solar panels without heat system upgrade" on August 15.

“To keep Scotland on track to achieve net zero, we need to increase solar PV deployment from today’s level of 0.5GW to 4-6GW by 2030.

“More than 61,000 households in Scotland already have solar panels and it is vital that more are installed across the country on homes, businesses and public buildings to protect consumers from the high electricity prices the UK currently faces and tackle climate change.

“However with 85% of Scotland’s electricity now decarbonised it is vital that finite public spending is focused where it can make the largest impact on cutting emissions. Heat makes up more than half of the energy used in Scotland and currently only 7% of the energy used to heat Scotland’s homes comes from renewables. Acting now to increase that figure is vital if we are to meet emissions targets and build a domestic low-carbon heat supply chain.”

Morag Watson, Director of Policy at Scottish Renewables