Majority of Renewable Energy Association’s members think tariff should be cut by 25%

So, there is still no clearer harmony over FiTs after the landmark legal victory in December 2011.

Since the Government’s announcement in December that it would slash the tariff for small-scale solar projects (up to 4kW in size) from 43.30/kWh to 21p/kWh, the industry has delivered a backlash of angry protest as installers have had contracts cancelled and companies have had to close or make serious redundancies.

But it would seem, from comments in the press by Gaynor Hartnell, the Chief Executive of the Renewable Energy Association, that there is disharmony in the industry. Hartnell responded to the high court decision by warning that the impact of the ruling could further increase instability.

The high court found that the proposed cut to the Feed-in Tariff Scheme for solar power by the UK Government in the middle of a consultation period was unlawful. The case had been brought by environmental organisation Friends of the Earth alongside solar groups. Following the ruling, DECC (Department for Energy and Climate Change) lodged with the Appeals Court and a hearing has been set for this Friday (13^th January).

I think it’s sad that it has come to this. It’s clear that the Feed-in Tariff scheme, which was meant to benefit individuals, small-scale energy users, schools and community projects has been exploited and often misdirected. In my view, there are faults on both sides (the Government and the industry). At the end of the day the ones who are suffering are individual energy consumers, who are missing out on the benefits of harnessing solar power and generating their own electricity, but the ones who are suffering the most are the honest, hardworking installers whose very livelihoods are being jeopardised.

I do believe, however, that the industry will bounce back. It has too much momentum behind it now to fade away and there are too many advantages solar power can offer (separate to the FiTs scheme), which is what the industry has to focus on now rather than relying solely on FiTs – irrespective of the Court of Appeal’s decision.

The Aros Solar Inverter product range covers both domestic and commercial/industrial applications from 1.5 to 500kW and includes a host of monitoring and customisation options. Aros Solar Inverters are accredited for use in the UK market and are available from Riello UPS Ltd.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at 11:49 am and is filed under Alternative Energy, Passing News, Relevant Technologies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.