The north Pembrokeshire origins of the UK's solar photo voltaic industry are being recognised this month, two decades after Britain's first small grid-connected photovoltaic power station started to feed electricity into the grid.

It all began in Newport in October 1996, when a set of six photovoltaic panels were mounted on the roof of the town's West Wales Eco Centre and were formally approved and commissioned by SWALEC after months of complex negotiations.

"Before that date, the electricity industry in the UK had argued that PV systems were dangerous, and could not be relied upon to maintain safety standards, but the Eco Centre and Wind and Sun Ltd (the installers) argued that new equipment available off-the-shelf from Germany met all the necessary criteria and would ensure safe and trouble-free operation," recalls former Eco Centre chairman, Brian John.

"At first, SWALEC insisted on calling the installation 'a demonstration project' but after many more months of negotiations the rewriting of UK-wide installation and operational guidelines was completed, opening the way for the installation of the many thousands of PV installations which we see across the country today."

The Eco Centre closed in 2013 but the PV power station still remains and continues to feed power into the grid.

The centre's PV system was the forbearer for today's booming PV industry. Today we have over 10,000 MW of installed solar PV capacity in the UK and photovoltaic installations on the roofs of houses, factories and barns, all feeding electricity into the grid and helping to reduce the demand for electricity from fossil-fuelled power stations, are a common sight.

"We are still immensely proud of the fact that the PV revolution started in Newport," said Brian. "The negotiations with SWALEC and the local authorities were extremely difficult, but we persisted - and now, twenty years down the line, we can see what a massive contribution PV systems are making to the UK energy supply. All from very small beginnings."