Speaking at the launch of the Solar PV Energy Roadmap, Barker said that 20GW of capacity is “potentially achievable” but only if “we can continue to drive down costs”.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (Decc) central forecast estimates the UK is likely to reach 10GW of solar PV by 2020, up from the 2.5GW currently installed.
Barker added that hitting 20GW “will require greater innovation; it will require greater price reduction right through the supply chain.
“We can’t just rely on cheap solar panels from China to do the job for us. We’ve got to innovate.”
National Grid has predicted that the current system can cope with up to 10GW of solar, but the challenges associated with balancing the grid increase as more is deployed.
Barker told Utility Week that if more than 10GW of solar PV capacity is achieved “National Grid will revise their investment programme on a rolling basis”.
He added: “We only would want the National Grid to invest as we show we can actually deliver.
“It won’t be a case of build it and they will come, it’s a case of as we grow, National Grid will grow with us.”
One of the options being considered by National Grid is designing installations so they can reduce their output on sunny days when electricity demand is low.
Other solutions include encouraging the use of electricity at times when PV installations are producing more energy, different methods of storing, and exporting electricity via interconnectors.”