Solar Markets & Finance

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) says that the Government’s proposals to cut the level of feed-in tariff incentives available to large-scale solar installations are “ill-judged” and “extremely damaging” to the renewable energy in Britain.

The news we have all been waiting for is finally out, and it’s not good. Greg Barker has revealed the scale of feed-in tariff cuts to what he says are ‘large-scale’ solar installations, and it looks like anything above 50kW is in for a rough deal.

Connected home technology company PassivSystems is to supply Engensa customers with solar photovoltaic monitoring systems. The two companies have signed the deal as part of Engensa’s Street by Street Solar campaign, which aims to supply free solar PV equipment to 100,000 homes across the UK.

In response to the UK Chief Nuclear Inspector’s recently commissioned report into the implications of events at Japanese nuclear reactors on existing and new plants in the UK, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne says we must not “rush to judgment”.

Foresight has announced its intention to finance the completed solar photovoltaic roof installations developed by Our Generation – the energy services company set up in conjunction with Mark Group in 2009. Foresight, which has agreed on a £50M program spread over the next 12 months, will fund the investment from Foresight Solar VCT, which has already raised £20 million from individuals, and from the Foresight Solar EIS, its fourth dedicated solar fund which launched this month.

Germany-based solar power and heating provider Wagner Solar has appointed Kamil Shah as Marketing Manager of its UK branch, where he will be responsible for setting up the marketing department and driving all promotion and communication activities in the UK. Shah joins Wagner Solar UK from Sanyo, where he was European Corporate Communications Manager.

After weeks of yet more uncertainty the fast-track consultation on feed-in tariffs is expected to begin tomorrow. The review, which will more or less determine the future of the UK’s solar industry, has been met with mixed feelings since its disclosure on February 7th.

Marking its entrance into the UK, solar inverter specialist Kinglong New Energy (KLNE) has expressed the great success it experienced as a result of its appearance at the ecobuild exhibition in London. This was the first time KLNE had exhibited in the UK, and found that it housed a very promising solar energy market.

Energy Minister, Greg Barker may have inadvertently misled Parliament over the number of jobs created for the PV industry since the feed-in tariff system was introduced.

Finally, after months of anticipation, the UK Government has revealed what the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) will look like. After waiting on tenterhooks all morning, the country’s renewable energy industry will now know what kind of payment can be received for generating environmentally-friendly heat.