Race is on to beat solar panel subsidy cut

Plans to fit 24 community centres, properties and sheltered housing blocks for the elderly in the Barnsley area with solar panels, approved by the council planning board yesterday, are under threat after the Energy Saving Trust announced a December 12 cut-off date for current levels of payment.

And a proposal to fit 200 council bungalows in the Dearne area, saving residents £1m in energy bills over 25 years, could also be at risk.

The 50 per cent reduction in Feed-In Tariffs means that subsidies received by a property fitted with a typical 2.9 kilowatt system would fall from 43.3 pence per kilowatt/hour to 21 pence/kWh, or from about £1,100 a year to £600.

Solar panels installed and operational before December 12 will continue to receive the full subsidy for the next 25 years, but those fitted afterwards will only receive the full amount until April 1 2012 and half thereafter.

The expected decrease in demand after December could have a knock-on effect on manufacturers and jobs in South Yorkshire, where 25,000 people are employed in the industry.

Stephen Davis, director at Berneslai Homes, who applied for the planning permission, said: “This certainly is a race against time. The December 12 date is a real sting for our schemes and it will now prove very difficult.

“This was a concession scheme that we put out to tender and this decision will have a serious consequence on bids. There is a real worry that schemes like ours will be thrown up in the air and this will affect quite a lot of people.”

Chris Savage, from manufacturer Energy Initiative, said: “The Government’s new subsidy is just not attractive for investors and will have an impact on demand and jobs.”