Editor’s Blog

Since the fast track review bombshell was dropped last week I have been thinking about what kind of implications this will have on the UK solar industry as a whole. So, in the wake of the FiT disaster I have been catching up with globally successful companies to find out what happens if they decide that the UK is a no-go area.

After what seemed like a decade of delay, the DECC has finally confirmed its intention to break the legs of the UK’s solar industry for good. The axe-wielding Government has now proposed crippling cuts to the solar feed-in tariff for all systems over 50kW. Yet again, our expectations are exceeded, and not in a good way. 

Scotland is perhaps better known for its windy weather than for its radiant sunshine, but that’s no excuse for a poor microgeneration industry, is it? Well, the Scottish Government certainly doesn’t think so, which is why, in a bid to increase the uptake in renewable technologies, it has introduced a new green loan scheme.

Following the absolute devastation caused by the earthquake measuring magnitude 8.9 and the ensuing tsunami that shook Japan this weekend, the world has suddenly begun to turn its back on the nuclear power industry. Confounded at how the country’s reactors are adding such panic in the wake of a disaster which alone is the worst thing the country has dealt with since WW2, people are waking up to the fact that nuclear is not the way forward.

After a long period of anticipation, the UK is finally privy to the details of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). At long last we finally have a Government policy to support solar thermal heat generation – well, sort of.

As reported yesterday morning, the UK Government has released a draft document promoting its Carbon Plan, which outlines how it imagines the country will actually reach the 2020 carbon emissions targets. Interestingly, there was a little surprise in there for all solar photovoltaic stakeholders currently active in the UK.

Just when I thought the UK’s solar policy couldn’t get any more ridiculous, Chris Huhne made an embarrassing appearance on Channel 4 news. Last night the UK’s Energy Minister made it abundantly clear that he knows nothing about solar, and probably never will.

As the well-known song puts it, I don’t like Mondays. However, while I can usually cope with them, coming into the office yesterday to read about how our Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has decided to launch an early review of the feed-in tariff made me want to turn around and walk straight back out the door.

Regular readers of the Solar Power Portal will have been expecting a monthly round-up of how many UK solar systems have been installed under the feed-in tariff in January round about now. Well, I am pleased to tell you that according to Ofgem’s latest figures, over 47GW were installed last month.

Just last week I saw the news that yet more changes are on the way this year for Germany’s feed-in tariff. However, in contrast with the usual ‘we’re cutting our rates’ scenario, the German Government has actually decided to increase the tariff should solar photovoltaic installations not reach expected heights. Since the…