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Supreme Court throws out Government FITs Appeal plea!
March 26, 2012
The government’s ill feted attempt to appeal against an High Court decision in favour of the Solar industry and Friends of the Earth, has finally come crashing down around it’s “Greenest Government ever” self...
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Selling the benefits of sustainable buildings.
March 23, 2012 , by J Blackburn
There are many who are familiar with the argument that buildings which have been retrofitted with high tech, low energy using equipment such as Photovoltaic cells, passive solar design and clever ventilation cost large capital sums, but...
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The Revised Building Regulations, 2013, the Green Deal.....Oh and CO2 Emissions!
February 2, 2012 , by J Blackburn
The Revision of the Building Regulations in 2013, intended not only to drive the building of more energy efficient buildings, but also help develop The Green Deal as the governments main energy efficiency programme, is now under...
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High Court Upholds FITs Appeal!
December 21, 2011 , by J Blackburn
Justice Mitting today deemed that the decision made by the Department of Energy and Climate Change to reduce the Feed-in Tariff rates from 43p to 21p per kWh was unlawful . The government ignored its own three month...
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Possible Government U-turn on FIT?
November 14, 2011 , by J Blackburn
After the government’s decision to cut the rate of...
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Carbon Green Consulting Ltd to develop Nation Caravan Energy Scheme
November 1, 2011 , by J Balckburn
Carbon Green Consulting has won a prestigious contract to develop a national sustainability rating scheme for the National Caravan Council. As lead consultants, Carbon gc will be developing an energy...
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Solar PV Feed In Tariff cut to 21p/kWh
October 31, 2011 , by S. Pascoe
As expected, the Government has announced, subject to consultation, a new tariff for photovoltaic schemes up to 4kW of 21p/kWh – down from the current 43.3p/kWh. Reduced rates are also proposed for schemes between 4kW and...
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Solar PV Industry relief as FIT cuts shallower than expected
October 28, 2011 , by J Blackburn
Solar PV Industry relief as FIT cuts are shallower than expected The government are poised to dramatically cut the Feed in Tariff subsidy (FIT) in an attempt to cool down the rapid growth in...
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Display Energy Certificates (DECs) for all commercial buildings
September 6, 2011 , by S. Pascoe
September should see the second reading in Parliment of an amendment to the Energy Bill, which could add a clause requiring commercial premises to have Display Energy Certificates (DECs). This legislation could take effect by 2013 or even...
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Carbon.gc Ltd win Tender in SWRDA property transfer.
August 24, 2011 , by J Blackburn
Carbon.gc Ltd is pleased to announce that a recent tender to complete 53 Commercial EPC for South West Regional Devlopment Agency was successful. Carbon.gc Ltd will lead a team of assessors to complete the certification process with...
October 31, 2011 , by S. Pascoe
Solar PV Feed In Tariff cut to 21p/kWh
As expected, the Government has announced, subject to consultation, a new tariff for photovoltaic schemes up to 4kW of 21p/kWh – down from the current 43.3p/kWh. Reduced rates are also proposed for schemes between 4kW and 250kW.
In addition, from April 2012, there will be an energy efficiency requirement for any building to achieve an EPC rating of C or better, or to have incorporated all of the Green Deal measures covered by the scheme.
The Government's justification for the reduction is that the cost of having a PV installation has fallen by a massive 30% since the inception of the Feed-in Tariff last year, meaning that returns on investment were significantly higher than originally planned and budgeted for.
“Urgent action is needed to put the solar industry on a steadier, clearer and sustainable growth path, avoid boom and bust and protect the feed-in tariff scheme,” Energy MinisterGreg Barker stated today in the statement. “The plummeting costs of solar means we’ve got no option but to act so we stay within budget and not threaten the whole viability of the scheme.”
The new proposed tariffs would apply to all new solar PV installations with an eligibility date on or after 12 December 2011. Such installations would receive the current tariff before moving to the lower tariffs on 1 April 2012. Consumers who already receive FITs will see their existing payments unchanged, and those with an eligibility date on or before 12 December will receive the current rates for 25 years.
A recent surge in households installing solar PV has threatened to break the budget. There were over 16,000 new solar PV installations in September alone – nearly double the number installed in June. And nearly three times as much solar PV as projected has so far been installed with over 100,000 separate installations with over 400MW of capacity.
The proposed new tariffs will offer a rate of return of around 4.5% to 5% index linked and tax free (for domestic installations) for well-situated solar PV – broadly comparable to that intended when the scheme was set up. The tariffs are broadly comparable to those offered in Germany, which has also recently reduced its tariffs.
