The new tariff will apply to all new installations until March 3 and only if Energy Ministers fail to overturn a High Court ruling.

Ofgem confirmed the scheduled payment change will come into effect from April 1 this year.

For household solar panels registered on or after March 3, the revised 21p rate will still apply and will be increased in line with inflation in April, 2013.

The Government has seven days left to submit an appeal bid directly to the Supreme Court to overturn two earlier judgements that their original December 12 deadline was unlawful.

Should it fail to win a Supreme Court hearing or succeed and subsequently lose its final appeal, the generation tariff of 45.4p from April 1 will apply to all registrations made before March 3.

However, if the Government is successful in having the High Court and Court of Appeal rulings overturned, the new 45.4p rate will only apply to registrations made before December 12, last year.

Interestingly, the Ofgem table of revised payment rates makes no mention of the potential for retrospective cuts or the threat of a Government appeal.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change last week announced future tariff rates for domestic solar PV will be reduced in line with industry cost reductions.

Source: http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/news/national-news/123190-new-feed-in-tariff-rate-for-solar-pv-set-at-454p.html

•  A tariff of 21p/kWh will take effect from 1st April this year for domestic-size solar panels with an eligibility date on or after 3rd March 2012. Other tariff reductions apply for larger installations.

•  Properties installing solar panels on or after 1st April this year will be required to produce an Energy Performance Certificate rating of ‘D’ or above to qualify for a full FIT. The previous proposals for a ‘C’ rating or a commitment for all Green Deal measures to be installed was seen as impractical at this stage. We estimate that about half of all properties are already eligible for a ‘D’ rating.

•  From 1st April 2012, new ‘multi-installation’ tariff rates set at 80% of the standard tariffs will be introduced for solar PV installations where a single individual or organisation is already receiving FITs for other solar PV installations. The threshold is set at more than 25 installations. Individuals or organisations with 25 or fewer installations will still be eligible for the individual rate. DECC is now consulting on a proposal that social housing, community projects and distributed energy schemes be exempt from these multi-installation tariff rates.

The new requirement for properties to have an EPC rating of at least D may mean that many older properties will be unable to install solar photovoltaic panels, at the higher tariff levels, if they cannot improve their rating to this level.

Please visit The Energy Savings Trust website and view the Home Energy Check calculator for an estimated EPC rating.  Please note that an official Energy Performance Certificate will be required in order to receive the higher FiT after the 1^st April 2012.

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/In-your-home/Home-Energy-Check

Yesterday, the Court of Appeal handed down a negative judgment on the Government’s appeal against an earlier decision by the High Court. We respectfully disagree with the judgment and are seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. In the light of that, we cannot rule out the possibility that lower tariffs could be applied to installations which became eligible for FITs on or after the proposed reference date.  It is important that consumers are aware of this.

The reason for appealing is that we want to maximise the number of installations that are possible within the available budget for FITs, rather than use available money to pay a higher tariff to half the number of installations. Solar PV can have strong and vibrant future in UK and we want a lasting FITs scheme to support that future and jobs in the industry.

We have already put before Parliament draft licence modifications that (subject to the Parliamentary process) would bring a 21p rate into effect from April for solar PV installations which become eligible for FITs on or after 3 March, to help reduce the pressure on the budget and provide as much certainty as we can for consumers and industry.

In the meantime, we want as far as possible to minimise the uncertainty for PV and other technologies eligible for support under FITs.  We are therefore still intending to publish the phase 2 consultation by 9 February. This will include proposed tariffs for other FITs technologies and a set of reform proposals for the scheme. We are also intending to publish the Government’s response to the other aspects of the phase 1 consultation that are not affected by the Judicial Review (namely the proposals on energy efficiency and for multi-installation tariff rates).

Source: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/chrishuhne_fit/chrishuhne_fit.aspx

Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) did indeed act unlawfully. As a result, DECC has lost its appeal, meaning the feed-in tariff will now go back to 43.3p for <4kW systems installed until March 3, 2012.

The three Lords Justices of Appeal announced their reserved judgment this morning following a hearing on January 13.

The court judgement means customers who have installed solar since December 12, and those who intend to install systems before the March 3 cut-off point, will receive the higher feed-in tariff rates for the full 25 years. However, customers who register on or after March 3 will qualify for the current higher rate until April 1, when the FiT will drop to the lower rates, as set out in the October 31 announcement.

Commenting on the decision, Daniel Green, CEO of HomeSun, said: “Four judges, including three in the Court of Appeal, have now called the Government’s actions illegal. That’s a four-nil victory and a decisive ruling that Government may not make retrospective changes to the FiT because, as Lord Justice Moses concludes, to do so ‘would be to take away an existing entitlement without statutory authority.’”

“Both this appeal and the Judicial Review in The High Court would not have been required had DECC simply followed its own process and allowed the industry, that it claims to support, time to prepare for a lower feed-in tariff,” continued Green.

Tweeting post judgement, Greg Barker, Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change, said, “Win, lose or draw today, important we move forward together, drive down costs + step up deployment.”

Clare King, a renewable energy lawyer at Osborne Clarke, said: “This decision will be a surprise to many observers. We, like many others, will be studying the judgment closely so as to fully understand the implications for the UK solar industry.”

It is currently unclear whether Government will appeal to the Supreme Court.

Source: http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/breaking_decc_is_denied_feed-in_tariff_appeal_5478/

If the 43.3p FiT rate is reinstated we’re expecting a surge in enquiries, similar to the December 2011 rush.  If you would like a free survey and quote, please call us on 0845 50 50 551 or email us at info@sun-harvester.co.uk.  Alternatively, visit www.sun-harvester.co.uk for more information.  Remember, we don’t take deposits!

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne has today responded to mounting industry pressure by announcing that the government will lay draft licence modifications before parliament which will allow tariffs to be cut from April 1st for all installations completed on or after March 3rd.

The new rates are outlined below:

• 0-4kW installations = 21p/kWh
• 4-10kW installations = 16.8p/kWh
• 10-50kW installations = 15.2p/kWh
• 50-250kW installations = 12.9p/kWh
• 250-5MW installations = 8.5P/kWh

The announcement has been made so as to bring a close to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of the industry.
If the current government appeal is successful the above rates will be applied from the original reference date of 12 December 2011.

fate of the UK solar industry, gathering to make a decision on

whether to grant the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) a hearing for its appeal against the High Court’s December ruling on UK solar feed-in tariffs.

According to our sources, the judge at the Court of Appeal has indicated that DECC will be granted leave to appeal, however confirmation of the judge’s decision is not expected until approximately 11.30.

If DECC is granted leave to appeal, it will be heard this afternoon – although a final judgment is not expected immediately.

If the appeal is granted it could overturn the High Court’s December decision, allowing the Government to proceed with its proposed cuts to the solar feed-in tariffs for systems up to 50kW, meaning 21p will be secured for installations up to 4kW until April 1, 2012.

12.00pm

No word from the Court of Appeal as yet, however the decision is expected any minute now. Most of our sources seem to suggest that DECC will be granted a hearing.

1.00pm

The court case is put on hold for lunch and will resume at 2pm. Government put forward a very thorough response, however, it is expected that another hours will be needed so a decision not likely today.

2.50pm

Both sides continue to put forward their case. Strong arguments from both sides but still no decision.

This page will be updated as new information comes in.

4:00pm

There will be no announcement from the Court of Appeal today. Lord Judge Lloyd has been reported to comment: “We know you want an answer as soon as possible, but we can’t give it to you today.”

4:40pm

The Court of Appeal has reserved judgment over DECCs appeal against the High Court’s decision on solar subsidies. The judges said that it would be optimistic to expect a judgment next week but they would do everything they could to get the judgment released by February 9. Our sources strongly indicate that leave to appeal will be granted.

Commenting on the case, a renewable energy lawyer said: “This is a frustrating result for many companies in the solar PV industry who were hoping for some clarity today. The judges clearly understand the need to get this issue resolved and have said that they will try to get the decision out by 9 February. In the meantime, all companies and investors can do is sit tight and wait.”

Source: http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/court_of_appeal_updates_will_decc_be_granted_an_appeal_5478/

In December 2011, Friends of the Earth and a consortium of Solar Installation Companies presented a legal challenge against the Governments unlawful cut in the Feed-in Tariff (FiTs).  On the 23^rd December the High Court ruled in favour of Friends of the Earth.  However, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has now launched an appeal against this ruling and continues to aim to set the FiTs at a new rate of 21p per kWh, over 50% less than the original 43.3p.  The High Court has now set a date of the 13^th January 2012 for the appeal and the result of this is likely to affect how much FiTs each household will receive.   Currently, we are advised that householders wishing to install a Solar PV System will still receive 43.3p until the 31^st March 2012 and 21p thereafter.  With our competitive pricing structure, Solar PV can still offer an excellent Return on Investment (ROI) and certainly out perform the banks!

For more details on our solar installations, visit www.sun-harvester.co.uk.

Contact: info@sun-harvester.co.uk or call 0845 50 50 551

Government documents prematurely published online reveal feed-in tariff cut will double the payback period for householders

Solar subsidies will be dramatically cut by more than half, according togovernment documents that were prematurely published online and quickly taken down.

The cut will almost double the payback period for householders, the document revealed, meaning someone installing £10-12,000 solar panels will only be in credit after 18 years rather than the current 10. The rate will be reduced from 43.3p per kilowatt hour of solar electricity to just 21p, the document revealed, cutting returns from around 7% to 4%.

Although the solar industry said it could bear the cuts, many companies said the reductions would hurt the poorest consumers hardest. Lower income households are more likely to rely on free deals whereby the installer takes the subsidy but the household gets free power – often enough to rescue people from fuel poverty.

While the PDF on the Energy Saving Trust website noted that “these proposals are currently under consultation and are not final”, the figure is in line with earlier speculation that the rate will be cut by over half. It also said consumers considering solar should assume the 21p figure is what they will get if they install after 8 December.

Howard Johns, MD of Southern Solar, who spotted the document,tweeted: ”It seems that EST know exactly what the outcome of the Fit review already – so much for consultation.” Toby Ferenczi, chief technology officer at solar company Engensa, wrote: “This isn’t acceptable and will result in massive job losses – don’t be fooled.”

The official announcement on the slashing of the feed-in tariff rate paid to householders looks set for Monday, with energy secretary Chris Huhne slated to make a statement in parliament, echoing tweets from the climate change minister, Greg Barker.

A Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) spokesman said: “We’ll be publishing a full consultation on changes to the solar PV tariff changes in parliament on Monday. The Energy Saving Trust inadvertently published a draft of documentation on its website that was neither final nor accurate.” However, the figures are line with those disclosed by the Guardian.

The spokesman added that if government took no action now, by 2014-15, Fit payments for solar would be cost consumers £980m annually, adding £26 to electricity bills by 2020. Average electricity bills areestimated to be £512 by 2020.

The government has argued that as the cost of solar power has come down, the subsidies should also be reduced as at present solar companies are absorbing some of the extra profits. Although the payback period has been reduced, the financial return at about 4% a year still beats most bank offerings and other financial investments available to individuals.

Prof Stephen Frankel, who chairs the Wadebridge Renewable Energy Network in Cornwall, which wants to install solar panels for free to local homes, warned the cuts would endanger the project.

“The Fit underpins these installations, and the benefits then flow not to outside speculators but are retained in the area and contribute to our community fund. This fund is available for local projects, as decided democratically by local people. We are now told that the Fit is to be curtailed drastically. If that is true, our efforts to act upon government advice and encouragement will have been for naught.”

Daniel Green, of the solar installer HomeSun, said people without the money to invest £10,000 or more upfront in roof panels would be hardest hit, as suppliers would no longer find it worth their while to install solar panels for them.

HomeSun is one of a range of companies fitting solar panels to homes and community buildings for free: the roof-owner gains free energy, and the subsidies are kept by the installer. Proponents of these schemes argue that it helps to rescue people from fuel poverty.

Green said: “In the residential sector, providers of free solar panels are around 50% of installations and they will disappear at anything less than 28p per kWh. This means the less well-off will not be able to benefit from solar.”

The news comes a day after the government signalled support for the 25,000 jobs in the fast-growing solar industry. Barker said the government wanted growth in solar panel installations to continue.

“We are determined not just to drive down carbon emissions but to build a successful, thriving, prosperous low-carbon economy,” he told a solar power conference in Birmingham.

“I’m personally committed to ensuring that your industry can prosper in the longer term, sustaining green jobs at a critical time for our economy, jobs that people can build a career on [and] that can help drive the recovery.”

Johns told the Guardian that the cuts would be a “disaster”. “If they go ahead with this, the tariff is way too low, and all the social housing and free solar schemes – which make the feed-in tariffs exciting in terms of fuel poverty – will be destroyed.” He added that this was the third government review into solar subsidies this year, saying: “We’ve invested business in PV [solar photovoltaic panels] and had it sliced up three times in a year. They [the government] have no credibility on this any more.”

“You can’t do U-turns like this without having to answer for it – it puts the spotlight firmly on the coaliton’s green credentials,” he said.

Seb Berry, head of public affairs at the UK’s largest solar company, Solarcentury, said they would campaign against the proposals:

“Today’s leak from the EST confirming the government’s intention to more than halve the domestic tariff from 8 December to 21p makes a mockery of the feed-in tariff consultation process established by the Energy Act. The minister tried to reassure the industry yesterday that he supported this sector and valued our investment, jobs, innovation and rapid growth. Today those reassurances ring hollow.”

Juliet Davenport, CEO of utility Good Energy, said: “Clearly we’ll have to wait until Decc comes out with the final details on Monday, but if these rumours are true they are very concerning. Feed-in tariffs have been successful at the end of the day because they give households control over their energy supply, insulating themselves from price hikes and reducing their carbon footprint.”

But the consultancy PwC argued that the deep fast cuts proposed by government were better then continued uncertainty or the risk of a bubble leading to over capacity in the short term followed by cuts later, which would mean sharper job losses. “A deep and fast cut in UK Feed in Tariffs (FiTs) will be required to protect the UK solar Photovoltaic (PV) industry from stalling or creating a market bubble before any rate changes take effect,” the consultancy said in a report on Friday.

On Thursday, Germany, the world’s biggest solar-panel market, said it will also cut subsidies for solar photovoltaic power. Rates will be reduced 15 percent from January 2012, the Bundesnetzagentur, the federal grid regulator, announced. Power from panels will earn 17.94 euro cents to 24.43 euro cents a kilowatt-hour, depending on size and location.

Deep cuts to the popular feed-in-tariff have been overseen in recent years, with the German government arguing that economies of scale and improvements in technology are resulting in rapid reductions in the cost of the sector, meaning the industry no longer needs such a high level state aid. Since Germany’s Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) was introduced 11 years ago, providers are guaranteed fixed prices for the electricity they feed into the grid. Like the UK scheme, it is paid for by consumers, adding 3,59 euro cent a kilowatt-hour on energy bills or, according to calculations by The Rheinish-Westphalian Institute for Economic Research (RWI)€ 85,4 billion for the solar built between 2000 and 2010 and ensuing payments.

The Bundesnetzagentur revises the tariff regularly. A 9 percent reduction every year is given by law, but it can be higher depending on actual new installations. “During the last 12 months an additional new capacity of approximately 5.200 megawatts (MW) has been registered. This figure results in a 15 % lower remuneration compared to the actual FiT for systems connected to the grid beginning January 1st, 2012,” said Matthias Kurth, President of the federal grit regulator. The rate could have been cut by as much as 24% (the annual cut’s ceiling) if a larger amount of solar, 7,500MW, had been added.

In 2010 Germany added a record 7.400 megawatts of solar power, and small green energy firms have become sizeable within just a few years. The renewable industry supports 380,000 jobs in total, 108,000 within the photovoltaic industry alone. “Germany is the global market leader in the renewable energy sector,” German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen stresses repeatedly.

However, German solar cell manufacturers can hardly keep up, now that prices are collapsing and Chinese suppliers are flooding market. “The prices were falling down more rapidly than German manufactures expected. but they will prevail in the long time because of the better quality”, Daniel Kluge from the German Renewable Energy Federation said.

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/28/solar-subsidies-cut-half?intcmp=122

In an interview with Bloomberg News, Cedric Philibert, a Senior Analyst in the renewable energy division at the Paris-based agency said, “Photovoltaic and concentrated solar power together can become the major source of electricity. You’ll have a lot more electricity than today but most of it will be produced by solar-electric technologies.”

The forecasted scenario predicts that most heating and transport will switch from fossil fuels to cleaner electric power in just 50 years, driving down CO₂ emissions from a current 30 gigatons to approximately three gigatons per year.

However, while this is good news on a global basis, the Solar Trade Association believes the UK is at risk of falling behind. Howard Johns, Chairman of the Association said, “The news that the International Energy Agency anticipate solar – both PV and thermal – can become the world’s major source of energy is welcomed by the STA.

“This news follows many reports this year predicting solar is set to achieve a major cost breakthrough with sustained investment today, including in the UK where Ernst and Young predict solar could reach grid parity by 2017.

“The STA urge the UK Government to take notice of mounting evidence about the potential of solar, and to urgently reconsider its faulty assumptions that solar is a technology that is too expensive to deploy in the UK.  The UK can not afford to ignore this technology. We must invest today to secure major manufacturing opportunities and a bigger share in what will be a massive global market in the future.”

In the UK alone, solar technology has the potential to readily generate up to 30% of the UK’s electricity needs, and create thousands of new jobs. The country is currently awaiting the results of the Comprehensive and RO Banding Review, which should set out Government’s ambition for the UK’s solar future.

The IEA will publish its report later this year.

Source: http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/solar_to_produce_lions_share_of_worlds_energy_in_just_50_years_5478/

Energy company Npower is to raise gas prices by 15.7% and

electricity prices by 7.2% from 1st October, it has said.

The supplier, owned by RWE, is the fifth of the “big six” energy firms to announce increases in UK domestic bills in recent weeks – only EDF has not.

Npower blamed the “volatile global wholesale market” – which it expects to rise in the future – for the change.

But consumer association Which? said customers would question the need for the increase given the firm’s profits.

Npower said customers with a dual fuel tariff would see prices rise by 12.2% from October.

“I know it hurts everyone when we put up prices and I wish we did not have to,” said Kevin Miles, of Npower.

“Although our half year profits were better than last year they do not begin to match the billions of pounds we are investing in energy for the future.

“With reduced quantities of North Sea gas, we are now forced to buy energy on the volatile global wholesale market. World events have pushed up prices and we believe this trend will continue.”

But Richard Lloyd, chief executive of the consumers’ association Which?, said that healthy profits would lead customers to question why price rises were needed.

“The Bank of England has predicted that rising utility bills will drive inflation to 5% by the end of the year, which will put more pressure on already squeezed households,” he said.

“It is critical that Npower and all suppliers do more to help customers cut their energy bills – whether that is by getting onto the cheapest tariff or making their homes more energy efficient.”

Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14545777