We all knew a cut to the high Feed-in-tariff was inevitable, but the speed and severity doesn’t make sense. Just when the industry has geared itself up, the rug is pulled. But it leaves me thinking why was it set up this way in the first place? Why didn’t they link it to energy conservation and require homes to be properly insulated first. It appears to be less to do with saving energy and more to do with making money. The savvy who have had a spare 12K in the bank, earning next to nothing in interest, have installed solar panels as an income generator. Nothing wrong with that; but only if it is linked to incentives to save energy as well. Yes, you might change your habits and put the dishwasher on in the day, but if your house is badly insulated and you feel it’s ok to heat every room to 21c how is that going to save carbon? Or if the income you generate allows you to fly to the Caribbean every year it’s a nonsense.
Has the price of panels really dropped more than they predicted? And if so, is that do the Chinese subsidising their solar industry? Raw materials haven’t dropped in price. The government obviously needs to re-adjust the scheme, as it is running out of cash, and the advise they have been given to ‘save the industry’ is to cut quickly and deeply. Yes, it might get rid of the ‘sharks’ around, be in does nothing to inspire confidence or trust.
