The Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) is the latest to join a slew of calls for the proposed solar VAT hike to be scrapped. HMRC recently announced that VAT on energy saving materials, including solar panels and storage units, would effectively be increasing from 5% to 20% in circumstances where the cost of the materials exceeds
April 1st 2019 saw the closure of the feed-in tariff scheme for the support of new solar installations. We look back at the successes and failures of the scheme, and cast our eyes towards a subsidy-free solar future. THE STORY OF FEED-IN TARIFFS Launched in April 2010, feed-in tariffs have been responsible for massive uptake
The government is aiming to start the legislative process for the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) before the summer in a bid to have the export tariff up and running before the end of the year. Earlier this week Labour MP Kerry McCarthy quizzed officials from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on
Almost 242.5MW of solar was installed under the feed-in tariff in Q1 2019, representing a significant surge as the scheme was shuttered for good. The feed-in tariff closed to new applicants from 1 April 2019 and, as has become customary under the scheme’s ‘boom and bust’ cycles, installers up and down the country rushed to
UK solar is entering a “new era” following the closure of the feed-in tariff last weekend, and industry leaders are prepared to embrace the sector’s subsidy-free future. Chris Hewett, chief executive, the Solar Trade Association: “Having grown accustomed to the ups and downs of the UK solarcoaster, perhaps it was too much to expect a
A host of energy suppliers have unveiled solar export payment plans designed to replace the now defunct export tariff despite the government’s Smart Export Guarantee being months away from implementation. Yesterday Octopus Energy said it was going to “replace and improve” upon the export tariff by introducing a product which would pay consumers a flat
The end is drawing ever closer for the feed-in tariff (FiT), marking the closure of another chapter in the solar industry’s history. By the end of this week, the FiT will be no more and the industry will instead look ahead to the promise of the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) and a subsidy-free future. Whilst
Nine years on from the beginning of the feed-in tariff and the solar industry is a changed beast. Larger, certainly. Wiser, perhaps. One thing is for sure, it has learned to thrive in the face of uncertainty and rampant adversity. The process to implementing a feed-in tariff (FiT) wasn’t the easiest, requiring lobbying of a
Political pressure on the government’s decision to close the feed-in tariff with no replacement scheme in place has ratcheted up ahead of the closure of a consultation on the future of solar policy in the UK.This evening the government’s consultation on the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) – the proposed replacement for the feed-in tariff –
Anyone thinking about solar power is likely to be aware of the Feed-In-Tariff.