Question reference: S6W-19953
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 14 July 2023
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Current status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 9 August 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason solar PV and storage is not considered to be an installation that “will maximise decarbonisation of heat or reduce heat demand”, as stated in the announcement on the Home Energy Scotland website, in light of reported analysis stating that it can provide consumers with significant savings on carbon emissions and energy bills.
Answer
The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan scheme aims to decarbonise the way we heat our homes by helping with the costs of installing zero direct emissions heating systems (ZDEH) such as a heat pump and installing energy efficiency measures in homes.
Where a ZDEH has been installed, a solar PV system and battery storage can be used to generate and store some of the electricity required to run the system – reducing electricity demand and the running costs for the homeowner. A solar PV system and battery storage system would not support a household reducing demand for gas if it is installed in a home heated by a gas boiler. Solar PV and energy storage can reduce overall energy bills for consumers with other forms of heating such as oil and gas but they do not specifically contribute to reducing the energy required to heat homes.
Energy efficiency measures will reduce the energy required to heat a home, and reduces the running costs of any heating system. A home with gas heating can still apply to the HES scheme for grants and loans towards the costs of installing energy efficiency measures in their home because this would reduce the energy required to heat their homes.