Ethos Public Relations Manchester

Happy days for solar

by Ethos public relations

Solar Direct Savings (SDS), a national solar PV installation company, says it is pleased and not surprised that the Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court ruling that Government cuts to the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) were unlawful and it has failed in its attempts to reduce themeans solar subsides.

Dave Langford from Cheshire-based SDS said: “This is great news for the industry and for consumers as it the current Feed-in Tariff (FIT) is likely to remain in place until 3 March 2012."

Under the FIT programme, people with solar panels are paid for the electricity they generate. The rate of 43.3p per kilowatt-hour has proved very popular and has encouraged huge take up of this renewable energy source.

The FIT was scheduled for review in April 2012 but the Government, in a shock move last year, tried to bring in a lower tariff of 21p much earlier.This resulted in a legal challenge by environmentalists and installers.

The High Court ruled that changing the tariffs before the end of an official consultation period was "legally flawed". The Government appealed and today’s decision upholds the original ruling. Dave adds:

“The irony is that we are essentially back to where we were in the first place. The FIT was due for review in April anyway and all the government has done is cause chaos across the industry, confuse thousands of consumers and cost the tax payer thousands of pounds in the courts.”

For information and clarification about the FIT rates go to www.solardirectsavings.co.uk.

To read other news from Solar Direct Savings click here.

Posted at 26^th January 2012