The Department of Energy and Climate Change has published deployment figures for the first 21 days of the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).
In total there were 1,080 applications filed for the four supported technologies from 9 April to 30 April 2014. Of the 1,000-plus applications, 368 were accredited with the majority of the remaining applications listed as ‘in review’.
Speaking to Solar Power Portal, Stuart Elmes, chief executive of Viridian Solar and chair of the thermal working group of the Solar Trade Association, said: “The solar industry is watching the domestic RHI stats with great interest, but our main concern is to see lots of new installations stimulated by the scheme. The DECC data only covers the first three weeks and does not separate new installations from legacy.
“After all the false starts I know that many in the industry were waiting to see that it really was happening before investing in getting ready for the domestic RHI, as a result we were always expecting steady growth rather than a big bang. People need time to work out the scheme and figure out how to sell it. It’s too soon to be drawing any conclusions one way or the other.”
Of the four technologies air source heat pumps generated the most interest, representing 41% of all applications made during the period. Solar thermal (24%), biomass (22%) and ground source heat pump (14%) made up the rest of the applications.
Elmes concluded: “The DECC team has been doing a great job of getting out to industry events and briefing on the workings of the domestic RHI, but the promotion of the launch to the general public has so far been rather too low-key. It’s really going to be up to us in the industry to get behind the scheme and make it a success.”