Government Loses Appeal To Cut Solar Feed In Tariffs

Fantastic news for the solar industry in the UK has just been announced!

The High Court has denied an appeal from the Government to cut the FIT from 43p per kWh to 21p. The Government lost it's original battle before Christmas to implement the cuts, but a challenge sent to the High Court ruled in favour of the industry, saying that the cuts were 'unlawful'. The Government said it would appeal the decision, but it has just been announced that the Government has failed in it's bid to over-turn the ruling. This is probably some of the best news for the solar industry in years!

The cut off 22p from the tariff would have risked thousands of jobs, numerous companies and would have left the UK solar industry in tatters. However, this is something the industry doesn't have to worry about and can now focus on installing as many solar panels as possible to people homes up and down the country, doing their bit for the carbon footprint of the nation. More importantly, it safeguards jobs and people's livelihoods in a time where jobs are probably the most precious commodity right now.

More to follow. 

Green Deal Doomed To Fail

The Green Deal has been on shaky ground ever since the details of the deal have been researched and found to be inconsistent at best. However, the Government's latest set of figures could spell the end for a deal which has had so much lobbying, hours of debate in Parliament, and I'm sure many millions of pounds of invested research.

The Government's own figures released today show that if the Green Deal was to go ahead, the number of lofts being insulated will drop a staggering 93%! The number of lofts insulated would reach a lowly 70,000! The Green Deal initially predicted 2.1 million lofts to be done! The number of cavity walls being insulated would be a piddly 170,000 when it should have been 1.4 million!

The Green Deal was supposed to create 65,000. This looks seriously doubtful now. 


The Green Deal was originally to be funded by the banks and the biggest energy companies. They were the businesses that were supposed to stump up the cash. But what chance was there of that ever happening?! Banks are hardly lending to businesses in the first place, and energy companies are way too protective of their cash to start giving it away in loans.


Whilst the Green Deal was a good idea, the initial research and figures laid out by the Government were fundamentally flawed. The Green Deal removes obligations from energy companies to improve the energy efficiency of people's homes and leaves it to the market. The problem with that is when you remove and obligation, the lack of motivation with most people, for whatever reason, means that take-up of the deal will be very low. Hence these appalling figures by the Government's own research facilities.


So, what now? Assuming the Green Deal collapses, the Government should look to focus on other energy efficiency measures set by the last Government that have been proven to work and continue to do so.


With the GGF lobbying hard to make sure energy efficient windows were included in the deal, it would be interesting to get their perspective on this latest batch of disappointing figures.


The Guardian has an article with more in-depth analysis and reaction. Click Here.

Now Is Not The Time For Striking

Everyone seems to have an opinion on the strikes that happened last Wednesday. So here's mine, and I'll try and keep this as swift as possible. On a subject like this it's easy to get carried away!

For me, striking at a time when the country is struggling to get it's economy back on track is down right selfish. The point of the Unions is that their workers signed a contract which said their pensions would be protected. However, we live in extraordinary times, therefore the menial contract means very little right now. People and companies have to be open to constant change and adaptation, if the economy is to function as smoothly as possible. This is something the private sector seems to understand. Which is also the reason why the private sector always seems to get annoyed at the public sector. The private is the first to feel the effects of any downturn, but just seems to get on with things, no matter how unhappy they might be. This isn't something that can be said for the public.

These strikes also took place while negotiations were still on going, which to me is quite rude and shows very little respect for the talking/negotiation process. It was always my thinking that measures like this were only taken when every possibility of a positive result are exhausted. However it seems that negotiations with the Government were not exhausted, so more time should have been given.

This is only my brief opinion right now, and will publish a far more elaborate and detailed report as to why these strikes were very much the wrong course of action to take.

Government Own Goal On Feed-In-Tarrif Cuts

The Government is set to score a huge own goal on 12th December, when it implements a massive 52% cut to the feed-in-tariff from companies who sell their unused energy supplies back to the national grid.

Indeed, this is going to make life for solar panel businesses very hard. We had ours done for free by a company called A Shade Greener. If we'd have had to pay for it, it probably would have cost us around £10,000. The way the company could do it for free was to sell all our unused energy back to the grid at a good rate. Over a certain amount of time the accumulative savings would have paid for the installation. However, with these rates being cut by more than half, we have to ask if these solar specialist companies are at risk of going bust.

By cutting as steep as this, it's going to take A Shade Greener more than twice the time to be able to pay off their installations. Is this going to be too long a time in order for the company to survive?

The estimate of homes having solar panel installations was hugely under-estimated. In fact the number of homes having panels was three times greater, at 100,000, than the Government's conservative first estimate. Also, the cost of solar panels has reduced dramatically over the past year, so the Government explains that to prevent profiteering by solar companies, they have to reduce tariffs so that they fall in line with costs.


Usually, I would be the first one to applaud such actions. However in this instance, we desperately need companies to be making big profits. Firstly, so that companies can expand their operations and employ more staff. Something which the jobs market urgently needs. Secondly, the Government will claim more tax if their profits rise. Again, something which the Coalition urgently too!


The Government are really shooting themselves in the foot with this one. The solar industry created a boom within the market, creating 39,000 NEW jobs. This huge cut in rates will pose a deadly threat to those new jobs, and the many businesses that have created them.


A debate on the bill is due for Wednesday. I'm hoping there will be a rebellion within Parliament which will stop it being put through. However I fear there won't be, and the solar industry will be bumped back on the back burner.

Lenders Could Halt Green Deal

The Government is working very hard and very quickly to make sure that the Green Deal covers as many areas as possible, and that it's implemented as soon as is viable. Effort which I have to applaud, which isn't often said by me about this Government.

But there is one huge underlying factor which could derail the whole project. The Green Deal relies on lenders providing the money for loans to go towards home improvements. And by lenders we mean the private sector. By private sector we mean banks and the biggest energy providers. And herein lies the problem. Banks aren't lending nowhere near enough for small and medium size businesses to function properly. So why does the Government think that they are going to willingly stump up the extra cash for these home improvement loans? Especially as they are going to take an age to be repaid as they are counting on the energy savings made as the form of repayment.

The Government is also relying on the big 6 energy companies to pump some money into the idea. But we all know how energy companies are, very quick to take your money, extremely slow to give anything back.

The Government wishes to implement the Green Deal in October 2012. But the way the crisis in Europe is panning out, and how our own economy is quickly grinding to a messy halt, banks don't look set to increase their lending by anywhere near enough for quite some time. 

So, the question I pose is this: what is plan B for the Green Deal if private investment fails?