Solar Power: Heating

Jenny Willott
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the total thermal capacity of installed solar heating technology in the UK was in each of the last five years (a) in total and (b) broken down by region; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks
Available statistics on solar thermal heating cover its output rather than its capacity. These estimates are available only at the UK level and not regionally. They are:

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|                                                                  |Thousand tonnes of oil equivalent|
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|2002                                                              |16.1                             |
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|2003                                                              |19.8                             |
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|2004                                                              |24.6                             |
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|2005                                                              |29.4                             |
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|2006                                                              |36.3                             |
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|Source:Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics, 2007, Table 7.7|                                 |
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Jenny Willott
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the annual turnover of the solar heating industry was in each of the last five years (a) in total and (b) broken down by region; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks
The Department does not hold the information on the annual turnover of the solar heating industry.

Jenny Willott
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many people were employed in the solar heating industry in each of the last five years (a) in total and (b) broken down by region; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks
The Department does not hold information on the number of people employed in the solar heating industry.