Pictured above: (l-r) Going Solar partners James Meynell,
Charles Houston and Andy Perkins
Businesses eager to adopt renewable energy systems are being
advised to press ahead with their plans now the Government has
confirmed its commitment to green subsidies.
Going Solar says companies should act quickly to take advantage
of schemes such as the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and Feed-in
Tariffs (FiTs), which allow consumers to earn money for heat
generated from solutions such as solar panels.
Although Going Solar has broadly welcomed the Government's
announcement that the RHI will go ahead from June 2011 and FiTs
will be maintained at their current level for the next two years,
it believes there may yet be a sting in the tail to these
decisions.
"I'm very pleased, on the whole, with the Government's
statements, especially the news that it has set aside £860m
for the RHI scheme," commented James Meynell, a partner in Going
Solar, a leading provider of renewable energy solutions in the
Midlands.
"However, the details of exactly how much incentive will be
allocated will not be known until the end of the year, which means
more uncertainty for the industry. A certain amount of momentum in
the uptake in renewable energy systems has already been lost since
the Government delayed its announcement on the RHI subsidy earlier
this year," he added.
While the Feed-in Tariffs remain unaltered until the next review
in 2012, there was still cause for concern as the Government had
reserved the right to re-examine the scheme if there was a rush by
consumers to install green energy systems between now and then,
said James.
"Furthermore, the Government has indicated that in its next
review, this subsidy could be cut by 10 per cent in subsequent
years. This could take the form of both a 'trigger point' where the
incentives fall automatically if a certain number of solar PV
panels and other forms of microgeneration are installed, and a
potential cut in the incentives paid for one or more of the four
technologies covered by this scheme," he stated.
"Going Solar's advice is not to delay plans to install renewable
energy systems such as solar panels and get in quickly to take
advantage of these valuable subsidies before the Government moves
the goalposts," commented James.
Going Solar, based in Neen Sollars, Worcestershire, specialises
in providing large solar PV systems as well as across-the-board
renewable energy solutions for medium-to-large businesses and
organisations. It offers a range of services including grant
advice, system design, project commissioning and maintenance. Its
installation division, EZ Solar, is accredited to the standards of
MCS, the Microgeneration Certification Scheme.