§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she is taking to support the development of photo-voltaic technology. [15510]
§ Mr. Wilson[holding answer 16 November 2001]: I have been asked to reply.
The Department has had a Solar Photovoltaics Research and Development Programme for a number of years, in collaboration with industry, and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has also had a programme of basic and applied research with the Universities. Research and development projects on PV technology continue to be supported under the Department' s Sustainable Energy Programme, via a six monthly call process, and PV secured the largest share of any renewable technology under the EPSRC's Renewable and New Energy Technologies Programme.
We are also funding around thirty demonstration projects on clusters of homes under the DTI's Domestic PV Systems Field Trial, with a budget of £5.4 million, and have just launched the Large Scale Building-Integrated Field Trial for Public Buildings with a budget of £3 million. This should enable us to support around 15 projects on schools, universities, hospitals, visitor centres and central and local Government buildings.
Looking to the future, we are currently designing the first phase of the Major PV Demonstration Programme, which was announced in the Government's "Opportunity for All" White Paper in February this year. We have a £20 million budget for this over the next 2–3 years, and it is intended that capital grants will be available for all sizes and types of PV installations on both domestic and non-domestic buildings.