A further 34 UK solar jobs have been lost after the installation arm of renewables developer Freewatt declared insolvency.
Freewatt becomes the third installer to publicly declare insolvency following two Norwich-based installers, which themselves employed around 65 employees.
Freewatt appointed CVR Global as insolvency practitioners early last month and a series of documents made publicly available last week revealed that the company had racked up debts of approximately £1 million.
Craig Povey, midlands regional partner at CVR, said that the company had “little alternative” than to make the staff redundancies following much-publicised changes in government policy.
While Freewatt Renewable Energy has collapsed, its parent company Freewatt Group continues to trade in the UK and internationally and Povey said CVR was now in the process of realising its assets to settle creditor claims.
Julian Patrick, chief executive at Freewatt Group, said in a statement sent to Solar Power Portal this morning that putting the installation company into liquidation was “an incredibly tough decision to make”.
“Any emerging industry can expect peaks and troughs, but what we have been dealt in the UK however is simply not sustainable.
“Unfortunately, government policies, strategy for energy and lack of support for renewable technologies has meant that 34 highly-skilled staff have lost their jobs and the Freewatt installation company has shut down,” he said.
Freewatt’s summary of affairs states it has assets of around £252,000 but total debts of more than £1 million, much of which is owed to Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs.
It also owes more than £446,000 to various trade creditors. The largest trade creditor, global panel manufacturer Hanwha Q CELLS, is owed £173,000, while supply firms Yesss Electrical and Solar-Log are also owed significant sums.