Solar industry faces months of 'paralysis' unless Govt. gets house in order

UK: The embattled solar industry faces months of “paralysis” unless the Government gets its act together quickly, according to a leading renewable energy company.

The double whammy of the High Court ruling that the reduction in Feed-in-Tariffs was “legally flawed” together with a scathing Parliamentary report, which labelled the process “clumsy” has further rocked one of the brightest sectors in the UK economy. The Government now faces having to go back to the drawing board in order to put in place a new consultation process to find a feed-in-tariff rate for domestic solar PV schemes more acceptable to the industry.

David Hunt, director with Eco Environments, said: “The combination of the High Court ruling and the Parliamentary report is hugely embarrassing for the Government, but nothing compared to the potential fall-out for an already embattled renewable energy industry.

“How can our industry sell with confidence to potential customers when we have total uncertainty over the future feed-in-tariff rates? Unless the Government gets its house in order very quickly, the solar industry faces months of paralysis. How can any businesses in this sector plan for the short-term, let alone the long-term when there continues to be such a dark cloud hovering over us?

“The ruling together with the scathing Parliamentary report holes beneath the waterline any claims that the Coalition Government is a friend of business or the environment.”

The report by two powerful select committees released today savages Ministers over the clumsy handling of the reduction in feed-in-tariffs for domestic solar PV schemes (from 43.3/kWh to 21p/kWh).

But it also goes further in stating that the plan from April next year to insist that all homes must achieve a C-rated energy efficiency standard in order to qualify for the full feed-in-tariff subsidies could have a “fatal impact” on the solar industry.

Nine in 10 homes do not currently meet this rating and bringing homes up to the required standard would cost between £5,500 and £12,000 according to industry experts – an investment well beyond the majority of people.

Hunt added: “While companies such as Eco Environments welcome the High Court ruling and the select committees’ damning report, these findings have caused a dangerous period of uncertainty which the Government must move swiftly to halt.

“We have never advocated holding the feed-in-tariff rate at 43.3/kWh and a return to this level will simply give the cowboy operators in our industry one last hurrah.
“Instead the Government must move quickly to consult and agree a workable and sustainable new subsidy level while at the same time removing the requirement that every home must achieve the C-rating for energy efficiency in order to qualify for the maximum feed-in-tariff level going forward.”