An influential UK economic think tank has predicted that an imminent surge in demand for electric cars and Solar panels could spell serious trouble for the UK National Grid and Energy networks and consumers throughout the UK.

“Political parties need to outline how the large Scale Energy the UK needs and the small scale energy people want, can work better together.”

Warning that government was being outpaced by technology and consumer empowerment, the Green Alliance is urging government action on managing the UK National Grid to prevent drops in voltage, blackouts, and damage to electronic equipment arising from the strain that car charging and solar power exerts on the UK national grid.

In a new report, the Green Alliance notes a 56% surge in sales of electric cars last year compared with 2015, and predicted that falling production costs would contribute to continued and rapidly increasing demand. Calling on government to design a smarter power system, the report warns of ‘brownouts’ at local neighbourhood level, when “just six electric cars charging in close proximity at peak time could overload the grid and disrupt the power supply”.

The Green Alliance report is urging the government to intervene so that the full benefits of more accessible small scale energy trends can benefit all of society.

“We are entering a new era where the consumer really can take control,” the report says, pointing out that electric car charging was entirely unmanaged, and calling for an alternative solution to those attempted by governments in Hawaii (which prevented blackouts by blocking residential solar) and Nevada (which punished grid defectors with retrospective

Such a tipping point for government in the UK could occur as early as 2020, the group suggests, when electric cars and solar will be viable without subsidy, creating an attractive incentive for owners of commercial buildings, for example, to go solar.

Along with falling costs for electric cars, batteries and solar power, the report notes a number of key trends and imminent milestones, including: Tesla’s market value surpassing that of General Motors in the US; the falling price of battery storage; and the projection that IKEA will be a net exporter of its own solar and wind energy by 2020.

All of these will by 2025 make it possible for homeowners to supply their own electricity off-grid for months at a time, using a combination of solar and car batteries, the Alliance predicts.

Green Alliance acting policy director, Dustin Benton, said that a lack of action at a time when “small scale energy is growing rapidly because consumers are choosing it regardless of government subsidy” had already led to “blackouts and billion pound losses for unprepared governments”.

“It won’t be any different for the UK. But it doesn’t have to be this way”, Benton added, saying that with the right policy, EVs and solar could help “keep the lights on” and cut consumer bills.

“Political parties need to outline how the large scale energy the UK needs and the small scale energy people want, can work better together,” Benton added.

This week, a spokesman for the National Grid told the Guardian newspaper acknowledged that increasing use of electric cars and solar power would change the way energy was managed, but insisted that “National Grid has been consistently dealing with evolution in the energy sector for decades, and these latest changes also present great opportunities”.

“For example, electric vehicles can be used to help feed energy back into the system at key times, while solar power will play a crucial role in providing clean energy as coal-generated power stops being used.”

Green Alliance is a charity and independent think tank focused on ambitious leadership for the environment. Since 1979, it has been working with a network of influential leaders in business, NGOs and politics to stimulate new thinking on environmental policy, and increase political action and support for environmental solutions in the UK.

Read the full report online here.

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