Due to the climate change, renewable energy with low carbon emission is a significant part of development (Mirzaii, 2017). There are several types of renewable energy that could be replenished naturally such as bioenergy, hydro, wind, solar and tidal. However, solar energy is considered as a powerful source that should be applied effectively. According to the study, 30 minutes of solar radiation could produce the energy which equal to world demand for one year (Singh, 2017b). Undoubtedly, solar energy systems might be the one of the sustainable solutions to substitute the fossil fuels.

1. Faculty of Science,Engineering and
Computing Schoolof Mechanical and
AerospaceEngineering
Setter: Dr Harjit Singh
Course: Automotive Engineering Msc
Name: Shih-Cheng Tung
KU ID: K1617281
ME7725 Green Engineering & Energy Efficiency
Assignment 1:
Biomass, Biofuel and
Solar Energy Technology
Section B

2. 1
Table of contents
1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………... 2
2. Methodology………………………………………………………………………………. 3
3. Literature review....................................................................................
Solar energy technologies
Solar thermal energy systems
Concentrated solar power (CSP)
Solar Photovoltaic (PV)
UK policies and regulations of solar energy related
Renewable Heat Incentive for solar thermal
Feed-in Tariff for solar PV
Renewable Obligation for solar energy
Green deal
4
4. Results and Analysis………………………………………………………………. 8
5. Conclusion and Evaluation…………………………………………………………. 13
6. Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………….. 14

3. 2
1. Introduction
Due to the climate change, renewable energy with low carbon emission is a
significant part of development (Mirzaii, 2017). There are several types of
renewable energy that could be replenished naturally such as bioenergy,
hydro, wind, solar and tidal. However, solar energy is considered as a
powerful source that should be applied effectively. According to the study, 30
minutes of solar radiation could produce the energy which equal to world
demand for one year (Singh, 2017b). Undoubtedly, solar energy systems
might be the one of the sustainable solutions to substitute the fossil fuels.
Solar energy systems could be harnessed by three major technologies which
are Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic (PV)
(Singh, 2017b). Solar technologies depend on location and scale, different
structures and materials are used on each design to process heat and
generate electricity. To approach to commitments in the Paris climate
conference, the UK government organised several regulations, incentives and
policy instruments to advocate the renewable sources. In this case, the
renewable heating incentive (RHI), Feed-in Tariff (FIT), Renewable Obligation
(RO) and the green deal which have distinct characteristics will be mainly
discussed . In addition, aim to improve the uptake of solar energy both
technological features and governmental policies will be analysed and
evaluated (Keay, 2016).

4. 3
2. Methodology
It is necessary to come up with an idea while climate change continues to
ravage the earth. In the UK, the investigation of the sustainable energy
provides the in-depth understanding and supports the further research
including solar energy. In this case, secondary study and research are
involved mainly in methodology. First of all, the lecture notes of Green
Engineering & Energy Efficiency module provide fundamental conception and
help finding secondary resources of the main topics. Secondly, the
recommended books from reading list and journals from iCat of Kingston
University offer credible and reliable information. Moreover, some electronic
documents such as annual report could be found from official websites, which
are convenient to collect the statistical data. Finally, obtaining a clear of
understanding while most of studies focus on qualitative research. The
studies are based on two main topics which are the solar energy technology
and policies of solar energy relative. The solar energy technology includes
three categories, solar thermal, concentrated solar power (CSP) and Solar
Photovoltaic (PV) whilst four policies, Renewable Heating Incentive (RHI),
Feed in Tariff (FIT), Renewable Obligation (RO) and the Green Deal are
discussed. According to literature review, result would be conducted through
analysing and comparing both technical and governmental aspects of solar
energy.

5. 4
3. LiteratureReview
Solar energytechnologies
Solar energy is considered as an important renewable source that could be
generated by radiant light and heat. Solar energy could be divided into three
parts, solar thermal, concentrated solar power (CSP) and solar photovoltaic
(PV) (Singh, 2017b).
Solar thermal energy systems: Typical domestic heating system
Evacuated tubes and flat collectors either could be fixed onto roof tiles or
integrated into the roof as solar thermal heating panels (Mirzaii, 2017). There
are three main parts, solar collector, solar circuit and hot cylinder, which make
up of the solar thermal water heating system (Kalogirou, 2004). The roof-fitted
collector which absorbs solar energy from the sun which would be converted
into heat in a glycol solution. The heat would be received through flows in
pipes and deposit in a conventional hot water cylinder. As the result, the
electricity of generating both space heating and water heating could be
reduced significantly.
Concentrated solar power (CSP): Solar tower plant
CSP is the application with lenses or mirrors to concentrate solar energy,
which often produces high temperature in small area. A CSP plant could be
mainly consisted of a tower with energy receiver, thousands of heliostats,
transmitting fluid and the steam generator ((Barlev, Vidu and Stroeve, 2011).
In order to concentrate the energy, heliostats follow the movement of the sun
and reflect the rays to the receiver of the tower. The tower is located in the
central field of heliostats with large heat exchanger to receive the sun rays
and achieve high temperature. The great heat of receiver would be passed to
the thermal storage tank where the heat is stored (Mirzaii, 2017). The molten
salt could be a proper media of fluid for delivering heat and storing energy.
Once electricity is demanded, the hot molten salts are sent to a steam
generator to active the turbine and generate electricity.

6. 5
Solar Photovoltaic (PV): Solar PV panel
In terms of solar photovoltaic technology, it could convert photons into
electricity directly by using semiconducting materials through the sunlight
(Ernst & Young, 2011). The typical PV panel could be installed on rooftops
that face the south. There is a simple installation to fit PV panel as tiles to
generate electricity (Barlev, Vidu and Stroeve, 2011). In order to collaborate
with electrical appliances, an inverter is necessary to transfer direct current
into alternating current. As the result, technologies of the solar photovoltaic
(PV) are emerged as the fastest growing renewable energy in the UK (KPMG,
2015).
UK policies and regulationsof solar energyrelated
Renewable Heat Incentive for solar thermal
In 2011, the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) in the UK
formed the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme to replace the Low
Carbon Building Programme. The RHI scheme is implemented and
administered by the company Ofgem. ‘The RHI is a government
environmental programme that provides financial incentives to increase the
uptake of renewable heat.’ (Ofgem, 2017a). There are two types RHI scheme
for different consumers, which are domestic RHI and non-domestic RHI.
The government promote to general families and businesses with appropriate
regulations, RHI. In order to receive tariffs, the details of property have to be
verified, technical survey of property should be carried out, the cost shared
and agreed have to be evaluated. Afterward, it is available to consider the
heating systems in domestic RHI, which should be one of the 4 types, ground
or water source heat pump, air source heat pump, biomass heating system or
solar thermal system. For solar thermal system, there are two types that up to
standard for the domestic RHI. As solar thermal heating panels, both
evacuated tubes and flat collectors could be fixed onto roof tiles or integrated
into the roof (Ofgem, 2016). To be eligible for the RHI, the installation should
be certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) and meet

7. 6
the relevant required standards for each technology (The microgeneration
certification scheme, 2017). Both domestic and non-domestic RHI could adopt
solar thermal as a generator while the differences are the tariff rates and
eligible period.
Feed-in Tariff for solar PV
The Feed-in Tariff (FiT) system operates in a similar manner to RHI scheme,
and was introduced in 2010 through the same legislation, the Energy Act
2008 in the UK (Ofgem, 2017b). They provide a financial incentive to
households to generate electricity using renewable sources including solar
panels fitted. In addition, there are two types of installation, small and large,
which depend whether exceed Declared Net Capacity (DNC) of 50kW (Ofgem,
2017c). For example, the installation of solar PV for home-scale is
approximate 4kW. While the maximum of large installation is limited as a total
installed capacity (TIC) 5MW. The energy regulator Ofgem administers the
scheme if eligible households can benefit in three ways through the
generation tariff, the export tariff and savings on conventional bills (Keay,
2016).The tariff rate varies widely with an actual eligibility date.
Renewable Obligation for solar energy
The renewable obligation (RO) was introduced in England, Wales and
Scotland in 2002, then in Northern Ireland in 2005 (Ofgem, 2017d). Compare
to the FiT scheme, the RO supports mainly for large-scale renewable
developments as a support mechanism in the UK (Ofgem, 2017d). The RO
scheme requires energy suppliers to reach their obligations through
submitting the renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs). In order to receive a
premium except the wholesale electricity price, energy suppliers could buy
ROCs which are issued to electricity generators by Ofgem (Gov.uk, 2015). In
addition, insufficient ROCs could cause buy-out penalties to energy suppliers.
Therefore, energy suppliers could trade ROCs with other parties to meet the
obligation as well.

8. 7
Figure.1 Renewable Obligation graph summarised by author.
Although the RO closed to all new solar PV generating capacity on 31 March
2017 in England, Scotland and Wales, it is possible to find the essential
information from an annual report between 2015 and 2016 (Grimwood and
Ares, 2016). Certainly, the RO annual report shows that solar PV plays an
important role and grows increasingly in recent year.
Green deal
The Energy Act 2011 intends to reduce carbon emissions cost effectively
through energy efficiency of buildings which includes the Green Deal
programme (Gov.uk, 2017). The green deal programme is another support
mechanism in the UK which provides a new method to pay for energy-saving
home improvements such as insulation, double glazing or a new boiler (Green
deal initiative, 2017a). For solar energy products, there are three options,
solar PV, solar thermal power and transpired solar collectors.
The green deal process could be explained with four stages, assessment,
agreeing the plan, installation and repayment, which could save money and
energy at the same time. It is essential to apply a green deal assessment of
own house through the green deal assessor or advisor who could produce the
green deal advice report with recommended energy-saving improvements
(Green deal initiative, 2017b). The green deal advice report is made up of an
energy performance certificate (EPC) and an occupancy assessment, which
rates home’s energy efficiency and looks at how energy be used (Singh,

9. 8
2017a). Afterward, the quote for a green deal plan would be offered by green
deal assessor to pay for the improvements. Once the green deal be approved,
a contract would be offered to state the measures installed, payments and
interest rate.
4. Result and Analysis
Sun provides essential energy to earth through solar radiation which could be
measured as a solar constant. The value of solar constant is 1367 W/m2
includes 6.4% in the UV range (<380 nm), 48% in the visible range (380-780
nm) and 45.6% in the infrared range (780-3000 nm) as the figure.1 show
below. (Solar Technologies.pdf). The upper infrared range that is greater than
3000 nm could be negligible (Solar Technologies.pdf).
Figure.2 Solar constant (1367 W/𝑚2) summarised by author.
The solar radiation is discussed mainly in two ways, beam and diffuse.
Without the scattering by atmospheric components beam radiation could be
received directly on any surface, while diffuse radiation could be received
after scattering. According to the different solar energy technologies, beam or
both of radiations could be applied to conversion. For example, PV and Solar
thermal could adopt both beam and diffuse radiation to generate electricity
and heat whilst the CSP only applies beam through reflectors to generate high
temperature heat. Electricity could generate directly only through the solar PV
panel because the CSP needs to convert the heat into electricity through the

10. 9
steam generator. Compare to PV and solar thermal, the CSP requires larger
scale and costs certainly, which might be invested by government or business.
Solar
Radiation
generation
method
scale
required
location
fitted
costs
required
application
PV Beam
Diffuse
electricity smaller rooftop/gro
und
affordable
to domestic
Domestic
Commercial
CSP Beam high
temperature
heat
much
larger
ground highly
expensive
Commercial
Solar
Thermal
Beam
Diffuse
low/medium
temperature
heat
smaller rooftop/gro
und
affordable
to domestic
Domestic
Commercial
Table.1 Comparison of PV, CSP and Solar thermal summarised by author.
Incentive
type
Technology Administer Duration
RHI Tariff income Solar thermal Ofgem Domestic: 7 years
Non-domestic: 20
years
FIT Tariff income Solar PV Ofgem 20 years
(previously 25 years)
RO ROCs
income
Solar PV Ofgem 20 years with fixed rate
Green
Deal
Financial
loan
Solar PV
Solar thermal
Approved
Supplier
Varied by plan
Table.2 Comparison of RHI, FIT, RO and Green deal summarised by author.
The subsidy of domestic RHI adds an extra income for the users under the
scheme. The domestic RHI tariff depends on the scale of generation and
types of heating system used (Microgenerationcertification.org, n.d.).
According to the domestic RHI tariff table in ICAX (2017), for the first seven

11. 10
years of the equipment used the generators could be paid up to 20.06 pence
per kilowatt hour with solar thermal heating system. Compare to the domestic
RHI, non-domestic RHI has longer period to receive a cashback subsidy.
Even though the pence per kilowatt hour of non-domestic RHI is lower than
domestic RHI’s, the tariff is offered an approximate 12% rate of return
(Icax.co.uk, 2017). The following table shows the trend of solar thermal tariff
from January 2015 to April 2017 that both domestic RHI and non-domestic
RHI offer a higher price annually. Certainly, it meant that the UK government
has the aggressive intention of developing renewable energies.
Solar thermal 2015 2016 2017
Incentive Tariff
period
Jan
(p/kW
h)
Apr
(p/kW
h)
Jul
(p/kW
h)
Oct
(p/kW
h)
Jan
(p/kW
h)
Apr
(p/kW
h)
Jul
(p/kW
h)
Oct
(p/kW
h)
Jan
(p/kW
h)
Apr
(p/kW
h)
domestic
RHI
7
years
19.20
19.51 19.51 19.51 19.51
19.74 19.74 19.74 19.74 20.6
non-
domestic
RHI
20
years
10.0 10.16 10.16 10.16 10.16 10.28 10.28 10.28 10.28 10.44
Table.3 RHI tariff history summarised by author.
To solar energy, the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) complements the shortage of RHI
that only offer the tariff for solar thermal system (Cherrington. et al., 2013).
For instance, a smallest domestic solar PV panel with level D certificate on a
south-facing roof could generate approximately 3600 kilowatt hours of
electricity each year by a 4kW system (Ofgem, 2017b). The energy supplier
currently pays for generating electricity at a rate of 4.14 pence for each
kilowatt in higher tariff rate, which means 149.04 pounds would be paid
annually (Ofgem, 2017e).
To assume usage is 50% of the electricity that be generated (Department of
Energy and Climate Change, 2011).

12. 11
Thus, 50% could be sent back to the grid which is counted in the export tariff.
The energy supplier could pay an export tariff rate of 5.03 for these units
amounting to 90.54 pounds each year as well.
Nevertheless, a typical saving on the current bill could be taken into the
account as further money saved due to the usage of imported electricity from
the grid and the feed in tariff is guaranteed to be paid for 20 years (Energy
Saving Trust, 2017).
4 kW Solar PV within higher rate
Tariff start date
Tariff end
date
Tariff rate (p/kWh) Export tariff rate
(p/kWh)
2016/4/1 2016/6/30 4.43 5.03
2016/7/1 2016/9/30 4.36 5.03
2016/10/1 2016/12/31 4.28 5.03
2017/1/1 2017/3/31 4.11 5.03
2017/4/1 2017/6/30 4.14 5.03
Table.4 higher rate of 4 kW Solar PV summarised by author.
Moreover, the RO requirement was increased from 3% to 34.8% in the period
2002-2016, which means energy suppliers should submit much more ROCs
to Ofgem (The Stationery Office, 2015). As the results, the developer and
investor have to afford more risk than the feed-in mechanism to secure the
RO order (Mitchell, Bauknecht and Connor, 2006). However, solar PV
approached a doubled growth rate of ROCs in the 2014-2015 period,
approximate 2.4 GW solar PV capacity was accredited by Ofgem (Ofgem,
2017f).
Obligation period RO order (%) Buy-out Price
(£/MWh)
2002-2003 3.0 £30.00
2003-2004 4.3 £30.51
2004-2005 4.9 £31.39
2005-2006 5.5 £32.33
2006-2007 6.7 £33.24
2007-2008 7.9 £34.30

13. 12
2008-2009 9.1 £35.76
2009-2010 9.7 £37.19
2010-2011 11.1 £36.99
2011-2012 12.4 £38.69
2012-2013 15.8 £40.71
2013-2014 20.6 £42.02
2014-2015 24.4 £43.30
2015-2016 29.0 £44.33
2016-2017 34.8 £44.77
Table.5 History of RO orders and buy-out price summarised by author.
Nevertheless, the green deal provider could decide the amount of loan, return
period and the interest rate. It is essential to consider the risk of green deal as
well as the RO. Generally, savings of the energy-efficient improvement on the
current energy bill would go towards repaying your green deal loan
(Greenmatch, 2014). Thus, the green deal loan could not necessarily be the
cheapest way to pay for energy saving home improvements due to the varied
conditions.

14. 13
5. Conclusion and Evaluation
To summary, under governmental policies and developed technology, solar
energy could be one of solutions for reducing consumption of fossil fuels. The
electricity that is generated by solar energy now is widespread in the UK
because of the supports of incentives and mature technology. The solar
energy industry has high growth rate in the UK, which improve the economy
as well.
However, the public ambition should be also raised through the
comprehensive education not only through the beneficial business. The
development which based on potential interest could be effect by powerful
right owner. Ethical business should be paid more attention due to the fast
growth of solar energy industry. For example, the manufacturing procedures
of solar energy designs in developing countries whether meet the
environmental protection. It is possible to lack the recycling of toxic waste in
order to reduce the cost and reach the marketing strategy. The free market of
solar energy could be affected by governmental policies to encourage the
development of renewable technology. Although the penetration of solar
energy has been increased, the further investigation and research still need to
be continued in detail.

15. 14
Bibliography
Barlev, D., Vidu, R. and Stroeve, P. (2011). Innovation in concentrated solar
power. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 95(10), pp.2703-2725.
Barlev, D., Vidu, R. and Stroeve, P. (2011). Innovation in concentrated solar
power. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 95(10), pp.2703-2725.
Cherrington, R., Goodship, V., Longfield, A. and Kirwan, K. (2013). The feed-in
tariff in the UK: A case study focus on domestic photovoltaic
systems. Renewable Energy, 50, pp.421-426.
Department of Energy and Climate Change. (2011). UK remewable energy roadmap.
Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Energy Saving Trust. (2017). The Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) scheme is a UK Government
scheme designed to encourage uptake of a range of small-scale renewable and
low-carbon electricity generation technologies. Energy Saving Trust. Available
from: http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/renewable-energy/electricity/solar-
panels/feed-tariffs. [Accessed 10 Apr. 2017].
Ernst & Young. (2011). The UK 50kW to 5MW solar PV market. Ernst & Young.
Gov.uk, (2015). 2010 to 2015 government policy: low carbon technologies. Gov.uk.
Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-
government-policy-low-carbon-technologies/2010-to-2015-government-policy-
low-carbon-technologies#appendix-5-the-renewables-obligation-ro [Accessed 12
Apr. 2017].
Gov.uk, (2017). Green Deal: energy saving for your home. Gov.uk. Available from:
https://www.gov.uk/green-deal-energy-saving-measures [Accessed 12 Apr.
2017].
Green deal initiative, (2017a). Green Deal for Homes | Home Insulation Grants |
Home Owners. Green Deal Initiative. Available from:
http://www.greendealinitiative.co.uk/about-the-green-deal/the-green-deal-for-
homes/index.html [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
Green deal initiative, (2017b). Apply for the Green Deal Today. Green Deal Initiative.
Available from: http://www.greendealinitiative.co.uk/apply-for-the-green-deal-
2/index.html [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
Greenmatch. (2014). Find-a-green-energy-tariff-vol-1. Green Match. Available from:
http://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/2014/04/find-a-green-energy-tariff-vol-1
[Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
Grimwood, G.G., and Ares, R. (2016). Energy: The Renewables

16. 15
Kalogirou, S. (2004). Solar thermal collectors and applications. Progress in Energy
and Combustion Science, 30(3), pp.231-295.
Keay, M. (2016). UK energy policy – Stuck in ideological limbo?. Energy Policy, 94,
pp.247-252.
KPMG. (2015). UK solar beyond subsidy: the transition. kpmg.co,uk.
Mirzaii, S. (2017) Week 2:Solar power enginerring in the UK [lecture notes]. Green
engineering and energy efficiency ME7725. Available from:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B7UaTudvNHXcOHBabURtZWlCNEU
[Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
Mitchell, C., Bauknecht, D. and Connor, P. (2006). Effectiveness through risk
reduction: a comparison of the renewable obligation in England and Wales and
the feed-in system in Germany. Energy Policy, 34(3), pp.297-305.
Obligation. House of Commons Library.
Ofgem, (2016). Domestic renewable heat incentives (RHI). Ofgem. Available from:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2016/04/drhi_factsheet_anintrototh
escheme_v3_0_mar_2016_web.pdf [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
Ofgem, (2017a). Environmental Programmes. Ofgem. Available from:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
Ofgem, (2017b). About the FIT scheme. Ofgem. Available from:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/fit/about-fit-scheme
[Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
Ofgem, (2017c). Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS): Small installations.
Ofgem. Available from: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-
programmes/fit/applicants/microgeneration-certification-scheme-mcs-small-
installations [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
Ofgem, (2017d). About the RO. Ofgem. Available from:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-programmes/ro/about-ro [Accessed 12
Apr. 2017].
Ofgem, (2017e). Feed-in Tariff (FIT) Generation & Export Payment Rate Table.
Ofgem. Available from:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2017/04/tariff_table_april_2017.pdf
[Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
Ofgem, (2017f). Annual report. Ofgem. Available from:
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2017/03/ro_annual_report_2015-
16.pdf [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
Singh, H. (2017a) Week 2:Energy Efficiency Enhancement and Support Mechanisms
in the UK [lecture notes]. Green engineering and energy efficiency ME7725.

17. 16
Available from:
https://canvas.kingston.ac.uk/courses/407/files/107862/download?wrap=1
[Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
Singh, H. (2017b) Week 2: Solar Energy Technologies [lecture notes]. Green
engineering and energy efficiency ME7725. Available from:
https://canvas.kingston.ac.uk/courses/407/files/107862/download?wrap=1
[Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
The microgeneration certification scheme, (2017). Microgeneration Certification
Scheme - Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). The microgeneration certification
scheme. Available from:
http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/consumers/finance-incentives/rhi
[Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
The Stationery Office. (2015). ELECTRICITY, ENGLAND AND WALES: The
Renewables Obligation Order 2015. Legislation.co.uk. 0000, pp.6-19.