The new online dashboard from MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) – launched at the end of 2022 – allows users to explore domestic renewable energy installations in the UK. We caught up with Alex Hughes, Scheme Manager at MCS, to find out what it can offer.
The MCS Installations Database (MID) holds the details of every MCS-certified, small-scale renewable energy installation in the UK since 2008 – a huge amount of data that can give us a clear picture of the levels of take-up of each renewable technology from solar PV and heat pumps, to biomass or micro CHP.
Alex is responsible for overseeing the delivery of the small-scale certification scheme and her role also involves working on this new dashboard. Alex says: “We’ve got over 14 years’ worth of data on small-scale installations – we’re in a very privileged position to showcase all of this invaluable industry data.”
Although MCS certification isn’t written into legislation, so there will of course be gaps in the data, the vast majority of installations in this country will be part of the database. Now everyone can use it as a single reference, alongside BEIS and Ofgem who have access to MCS data to help with all kinds of decision-making.
Alex adds: “When we were thinking of the MCS Data Dashboard we wanted it to be as near to real time as possible, so it will be updated every 24 hours. We also wanted to cater for different audiences. So, we needed to think of the type of filters we want to use and what types of charts do we want it to produce.”
Audience needs
The different audiences Alex refers to could be journalists, local and national government, policymakers, or installation companies looking for growth opportunities. She says: “The dashboard is data driven and its insights can help inform decisions, whether that be in the supply chain or policymakers who wish to recognise demands and then tracking the effectiveness of a policy as well.”
This could mean that organisations choose to invest in expanding their workforce as they’ve seen a clear growth in demand in their region, or they work more closely with suppliers to meet the demand. For example, at the time of writing, the local authority with the most installations is Orkney and the one with the least is Southwark. The fastest riser currently is Midlothian, which could mean a need to grow the local supply chain. Users, such as the press, can also use the dashboard to see how funding such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) is impacting heat pump take-up and where the policy is making a difference.
The MCS Data Dashboard will have additional functionality in the future, too, as Alex explains: “This is the first phase and we want users to give constructive feedback in terms of how we can improve the platform. It’s been really positive to hear that people are using it already. As the scheme develops, we’ll be looking at additional data metrics that we can integrate into the dashboard, such as our latest figures on battery storage deployment.”
To register for free for the MCS Data Dashboard visit: datadashboard.mcscertified.com/
