New solar panel to power a house buy in Long Beach, Baton Rouge, Rancho Cucamonga

Solar subsidy changes could deal 'fatal blow' to industry

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It had been expected that the new tariff would come into effect from 1 April; but in October, the government said it would apply to anyone installing their solar panels after 12 December.

The High Court ruled that changing the tariffs before the end of an official consultation period was "legally flawed".

The two committees said ministers were right to cut the tariffs - but not in the way they did.

"There is no question that solar subsidies needed to be urgently reduced, but the government has handled this clumsily," said Tim Yeo, chairman of the Energy and Climate Change Committee.

"Ministers should have spotted the solar 'gold rush' much earlier. That way subsidy levels could have been reduced in a more orderly way without delivering such a shock to the industry."

The MPs described the quick tariff change as "panicky", and said it "smacks of retrospective regulation, which undermines confidence in the government's management of other energy policies".

Source: BBC News

solar panel to power a house - News

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