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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent comparative assessment his Department has made of the costs and benefits of the use of solar thermal collectors as alternatives to water heated by heat pumps and solar PV panels; and if he will make a statement.

The use of electricity from solar PV to heat water is most commonly achieved by directly heating water in a thermal store using an immersion heater rather than a heat pump. As heating water with heat pumps and solar PV panels is relatively uncommon, and this method is not considered to be a potential major source of renewable heat generation in the future, the Department has not made a comparative assessment of the costs and benefits of the use of solar thermal collectors against water heated by heat pumps and solar PV.