Letter: Solar energy may have uses in some warm countries, but UK simply doesn't have the weather

The new energy secretary has given the green light to the biggest solar farm in the UK. He claims that building the Sunnica Solar Farm will cut "bills for families".

As is often with politicians, the opposite is true, because the farms in the cold weather will need the back-up of electricity generation.

So, essentially, two facilities will have to be built - one for the summer and one for the winter.

This will increase electricity bills, not cut them. Ed Miliband wants Britain to be a world leader in net zero, disregarding the price the rest of us will have to pay for his utterly pointless ambition.

The UK is responsible for only 1% of global CO2 emissions, so even if we achieved net zero tomorrow, it would have no measurable impact on world temperatures.

Putting it simply, the peak electricity demand in Britain is in the winter, when we need to heat our homes, offices, factories, hospitals etc, but in this season solar farms produce almost no electricity in the UK.

This is because it is dark for around 16 hours a day, and when the sun does appear, it is weak.

Solar energy may have uses in some warm countries, for example, those in Africa, but building multiple solar farms in Britain is completely brainless.

We simply have not got the weather.

David Fleming, Norfolk