Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to change the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme so that hot water from solar thermal collectors can be used to support a home's heating needs under that scheme; and if he will make a statement.

The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is tax-payer funded, and supporting solar thermal for space heating would not represent good value for money. This is because solar thermal systems are normally only capable of meeting a portion of a house’s heat demand (so a backup space heating system would be required), and are not as cost-effective in space heating when compared to other technologies.