SOLAR-powered Scottish homes saw 100% of their electricity needs met by the sun during April, it was revealed today.
Environmentalists are calling for more homes and businesses to embrace solar power as new figures reveal there was enough sunshine in April to have met more than 100% of the electricity needs of an average house.
Wind turbines in Scotland also generated enough electricity on average to supply the electrical needs of 69% of Scottish households – the equivalent of 1.66 million homes.
Analysis by WWF Scotland of solar and wind data provided by WeatherEnergy found that for the month of April:
· For homes fitted with solar PV panels, there was enough sunshine to generate an estimated 113% of the electricity needs of an average home in Edinburgh, 111% in Aberdeen, 106% in Glasgow, and 104% in Inverness.
· For those homes fitted with solar hot water panels, there was enough sunshine in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness to generate an estimated 100% of an average households hot water needs, and 99% for homes in Aberdeen.
· Wind turbines in Scotland alone provided an estimated 608,601MWh of electricity to the National Grid, enough to supply on average the electrical needs of 69% of Scottish households (1.66 million homes) – this is similar to April 2014, when wind energy provided 617,384MWh.
· Scotland’s total electricity consumption (i.e. homes, business and industry) for April was 2,080,445MWh – wind power therefore generated the equivalent of 29% of Scotland’s total electricity consumption for the month.
Potential
WWF Scotland’s director Lang Banks said: “For the tens of thousands of Scottish households that have already installed solar panels, there was enough sun to effectively meet all of their electricity or hot water needs, helping to reduce our reliance on polluting fossil fuels.
“With these sorts of figures, every home or business with a south-facing roof should seriously consider switching on to the full potential of solar power. Similarly, there is no reason why Scotland should not be home to commercial-scale solar farms.
“During the month, Scotland’s wind turbines generated enough output to supply the electricity needs of over 1.5million 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 our energy needs.
