A proposal to cut solar feed in tariffs by 87% in the UK could crush the nation’s solar industry says Friends Of The Earth.
The popularity of feed-in tariffs in the UK has exceeded all renewable energy deployment expectations.
“…the Feed-in Tariff projected that we would reach 750,000 installations by 2020: by the end of July 2015, we had already reached over 730,000,” says a review (PDF) from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
After January, anyone installing solar power systems will receive a rate of 1.6p for surplus electricity exported to the grid under the DECC’s proposal – around AUD 3.5c at current exchange rates.
In the UK, home solar is still rather expensive compared to Australia; so feed in tariffs are playing a very important role in a purchase decision.
According to Energy Saving Trust, the average domestic solar PV system in the UK is 4kW and costs £5,000 – 8,000 (including VAT at 5 per cent); which is around AUD $10,800 – $17,000. A larger, 5kW system in Australia costs around $6,000 – $6,500; fully installed.
With such a drop in feed-in tariff, it’s feared uptake of solar will be severely impacted and many jobs in the sector will be lost.
“Around a million homes, schools and hospitals will lose out on solar installations – according to the Government’s own figures. The 35,000 people who work in the solar industry now face an uncertain future,” says Friends Of The Earth UK’s Henry Chown.
“The Government itself estimates that this will increase the UK’s carbon emissions by 1,240,000 tons per year. And the savings for bill-payers from all this? £6 a year. The Government is selling out our planet for the price of a month’s subscription to Netflix.”
Another member of the group, Donna Hume, says the proposal has nothing to do with economics.
“These are political choices. This Government is saying yes to fracking, yes to fossil fuels, yes to nuclear – no matter how much it costs the public and no matter the scale of the risks. But saying no to wind, and no to solar.”
