Plans to cut solar power subsidy

31/10/2011 11:06:38

 

The makers of green construction products could be damaged by plans to reduce subsidies for households that generate solar electricity. Currently, householders who procure their own electricity from small-scale renewables receive payments from a feed-in-tariff, which is linked to how much energy a home generates.

However, the Government is warning that these payments now need to be lowered to bring them in line with the reduced cost of the environmentally friendly technology and to take into account the current economic situation.

More households have installed solar photovoltaic panels than ministers predicted and the Government is saying that reduced subsidies are required to ensure that the scheme remains sustainable.

But the industry has warned that large-scale cuts could seriously hurt the sector and jeopardise the thousands of jobs it now provides.

A leaked document suggests that the subsidy could be cut in half from nearly £1,200 to under £650, but the Department for Energy and Climate Change says that the document is "neither final nor accurate".

Copyright Press Association 2011

 

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