Solar industry launches rescue plan

Plan would add £1 per year on average household energy bills from 2019 for new solar deployed over the next three years

The Solar Trade Association (STA) has launched an emergency rescue plan as an alternative to the government’s proposed cuts to the Feed-in Tariff for the technology.

The plan would add an extra £1 per year on average household energy bills from 2019 for new solar deployed over the next three years which would generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 875,000 homes.

The proposal introduces higher tariffs than those proposed by government, with higher and more flexible caps on the total amount of solar that can be deployed and an improved mechanism to continually bring support levels down.

The STA said it hopes the plan will work for both the solar industry and the government, "allowing a viable solar market to continue while giving the government the cost control guarantees it requires".

The plan garnered cross-party support from more than 30 MPs from all parties yesterday at an action day outside the House of Commons.

Leonie Greene, head of external affairs at the Solar Trade Association said: “This emergency plan represents a compromise agreement which, given the current crisis, aims to find a way forward that is acceptable for both the government and the solar industry.

“The fact that this plan costs just £1 per household shows just how affordable it could be to adopt steady, gradual reductions in support for solar."

Greene added: “Solar is close to grid parity, but it is not there yet. The government’s 98% cut in the overall budget for solar would derail the industry at the last hurdle and waste the millions of public investment in solar to date.”

The government consultation on the changes is set to close tomorrow, with a final decision expected later this year.