A recent BBC article reports that the government has said that it will take action if commercial operators exploit a subsidy, known as the Feed-in Tariff, which is aimed at encouraging homeowners to generate their own solar electricity.
The government’s Feed-in Tariff was launched last April and offers typical household earnings of around £800 a year and savings on bills of about £120.
Energy Minister Greg Barker said “If I see that large scale solar projects on an industrial scale stand to take a disproportionate amount of the money that is there to be spread widely for homeowners and small businesses, I will act.”
The government has pledged just under £400m for the feed-in tariff scheme until 2014.
The BBC reports that some individuals are critical that the cost of the feed-in tariffs will be born by those least able to afford it who cannot install solar panels themselves.
The government said many social housing projects were also installing solar panels and so their residents were also benefitting.
Nearly 20,000 UK households have already registered to take part in the scheme and it has been said that this year we should see a big rise in solar panel installation.
Managing Director of EvoEnergy, DR Kevin Hard said “The Feed-in-tariff was the first real step to allowing individuals to secure their electrical energy for the future. Although it doesn’t apply to everyone, many people have south facing roofs or at least some ground space where they can put some solar panels. The different financing options out there allow people to buy them out right, have a lease or loan, or they allow someone else to finance the installation and the homeowner takes the smaller share but secures some of their future electricity bill.
As Greg Barker says, he only has a finite pot to spend towards the deployment of solar in the UK. It would be a pity to see the tariff cut as these financial systems out there are helping individuals to install solar panels. Although I would like to see deployment of solar power across the UK, I would fully back Mr Barkers MP decision to pull the field mounted Solar PV systems if deployment was too fast and detract from enabling homeowners and businesses to install solar.”