Solar Media Staff

The London Borough of Havering has installed a 14.7kWp system on the roof of the Elm Park Library after securing LCBP Phase 2 grant funding for the project.

With the deadline of December the 12th all too close, the question I am being asked is what do we need to get done by the deadline?

Myriad Power, in partnership with Gable UK and Volker Fitzpatrick, has designed and installed a clamp system PV installation for the new Hoe Valley Community Centre in Woking, Surrey.

Hosting a celebratory launch party at its new headquarters in Milton Keynes, SMA Solar UK yesterday officially opened the base for its UK activities. Housing its new offices, local service stock, sales support and Solar Academy the new building secures SMA’s growing presence in the UK solar market.

The Cut Don’t Kill campaign, launched at  Solar Power UK 2011, has warned that the proposed 52% cut to the UK feed-in tariff could “kill the UK solar industry stone dead” – jeopardising the future of 4,000 companies and 25,000 jobs.

It was perhaps a foregone conclusion that the money-spinning solar industry, growing at break-neck speed on the back of generous Government subsidy had to be tamed down to sustainable levels, sooner or later.

Since the new proposed feed-in tariff rates were revealed on Monday one question has been asked more than any other: what does the December deadline really mean? In a bid to provide some much-needed clarity in this area, I’ve done a bit of digging to find out.

If there is one thing you can be sure of in this world, it is that the law of unintended consequences follows Government plans like autumn follows summer. The fact is, if Government launches an initiative then there will be a multitude of clever people trying to find ways to use that initiative to their own advantage. Often initiatives are not used in the way they were intended — and many do not end up benefitting those to whom they were originally aimed.

Yesterday’s proposed feed-in tariff cuts have prompted a great amount of solar industry backlash, the majority of which has been overtly negative. However, while much of the industry was hoping to wake up today from a Halloween nightmare, others felt that the cuts were justified, and feel they can be used to create a sustainable industry.

After sitting at my desk for the best part of half an hour refreshing my screen, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) finally published what we have all been waiting for: the consultation on the comprehensive review of feed-in tariffs. Shortly after 10.30am the new rates were announced, and the UK solar…