The business, energy and industrial strategy select committee has ratcheted up the pressure on the government to “urgently” clarify its position on rooftop solar. In a comment released yesterday, the select committee chair Rachel Reeves said that it was “disappointing” that the government had so far failed to spell out exactly why households with solar should export to the grid for free, adding that the proposals as they stand threatened to destabilise the domestic solar industry. “The government appears to be shifting on this, but it urgently needs to set out how it will support small-scale renewables and ensure our solar industry gets the backing it deserves,” Reeves said. The Labour MP is referring to comments made by energy and clean growth minister Claire Perry during a BEIS oral questions session earlier this week, where she appeared to confirm a U-turn on proposals to close the export tariff to new applicants from 31 March 2019.
Solar Power Portal 23rd Nov 2018 read more »
Julie Griffiths wanted to reduce her carbon footprint by installing solar panels. The cost would have been a prohibitive £12,000, so she signed a deal to lease part of her roof to a solar power company, which would fit the panels for free. It would pocket the newly introduced feed-in tariffs (FITs) – subsidies paid by the government for the electricity generated. She, meanwhile, would have lower energy bills. At the end of the 25 years, the panels and the tariffs would be hers. It seemed a win-win situation until recently, when she needed to sell the house. Her buyer’s mortgage application was refused because of the lease agreement, which had effectively signed over a large part of the roof to the solar company.
Observer 25th Nov 2018 read more »