Solar Power Deal Will Lower Social Tenants' Energy Bills

Solar panels are to be installed in 800,000 low-income homes across England and Wales over the next five years, as part of a new government scheme. The Dutch firm, Maas Capital, is investing £160m in the project. The panels, which will be free to tenants, are expected to cut hundreds of pounds from energy bills, according to the UK firm Solarplicity. The first people to benefit from the scheme include residents of a sheltered retirement home in Ealing, west London. Read more on the BBC.

Just 12 Homes Get Green Deal Energy Savers

The Government’s flagship Green Deal scheme is making “painfully slow” progress, with just 12 homes installing energy saving measures since its launch in January. The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said 71,210 households had been assessed for Green Deal measures such as solar panels and insulation at the end of August, up from 58,124 in July. But only 677 households have gone to the next stage and said they would like to proceed with the scheme. Of these, 12 houses have had measures installed, while 293 properties had quotes accepted on work and 372 properties had installations "pending". The figures also showed the number of homes assessed for energy-saving measures fell in August. There were 13,086 properties assessed during the month, a 4pc fall from July. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

Subsidy Blow for Social Landlords’ PV Plans

The government has ditched plans to allow social housing photovoltaic schemes to benefit from a special status as ‘community energy projects’. The Department of Energy and Climate Change has ruled that landlords’ PV projects would not count as community schemes.  This won’t affect the feed-in tariff rate received by landlords – a subsidy paid by the government to producers of renewable electricity. But it does mean they will not be able to benefit from longer FIT guarantees or relaxed energy efficiency criteria for properties.  Landlords had hoped they would be included under the community status – which, in turn, they had hoped would receive a higher FIT rate – in recognition of the social benefits of tackling fuel poverty.  Instead social housing PV projects will receive 90 per cent of the FIT as suggested in April. Read more on Inside Housing.

Ruling Hands ALMO £10m

A landmark legal ruling on solar subsidies will result in a £10 million profit for an ALMO.  Ascham Homes had expected to make a £1.5 million loss on photovoltaic solar panels it installed this January after the government decided to cut the feed-in tariff it pays to renewable electricity producers from 43.3p/kWh to 21p/kWh in October last year.  However the Supreme Court has upheld previous rulings from the High Court and Court of Appeal that said the government had acted unlawfully in applying the FIT cut retrospectively on 12 December 2011 with just six weeks’ notice.  The ALMO used Waltham Forest Council’s low prudential borrowing rates - up to 2 per cent lower than the cost of private bank finance - to fund the £7 million scheme over the 25-year life of the FIT.  Read more on Inside Housing.

UK Government Loses Solar Feed-In Tariff Bid

The government has suffered a third court defeat over its attempts to cut solar panel incentives, meaning tens of thousands of people will receive higher payments.  The supreme court rejected the government's appeal over a court ruling in December that its halving of solar payments were "legally flawed", marking the end of legal options for the Department of Energy and Climate Change. It is the second government appeal to fail, following a unanimous upholding of the original ruling by court of appeal judges in January.  The 30,735 homeowners and businesses who installed solar panels after a 12 December cut-off date and before 3 March will now be eligible for the previous, higher feed-in tariff (Fit) of 43p per kWh of energy generated, which was cut to 21p with just six weeks' notice. The higher payments will add £700m to energy bills, which the Fit is paid through, over 25 years.  Read more on the Guardian website.

Social Housing PV Unviable Unless FIT Rates Double

Incentive payments for electricity generated from solar panels need to be set at nearly double the proposed rate for installations to remain viable for social landlords, according to research. Figures produced by consultancy Camco for the National Housing Federation show feed-in tariff payments would need to be set at 32.4 pence per kilowatt hour to remain attractive to the sector. The government is currently proposing to cut FIT payments from 43.3p/kWh to 16.8p/kWh for social landlords from April, although its plans are subject to legal proceeding, with a key appeal being heard in the High Court. Camco’s research has found the 16.8p/kWh rate would be too low to make schemes viable for social landlords, mainly because they depend entirely on the FIT payment to justify investment as the energy savings that also result are passed on to tenants. Read more on Inside Housing.

1,300 Solar Panels Fitted To City Homes in Just Five Weeks

Solar panels have been fitted to more than 1,300 city council homes in just five weeks instead of five months to avoid Government cuts. The Government cut the amount it pays for surplus energy generated from solar panels from 43.3p at kilo watt hour to 21p a kilowatt hour. To receive the full 43.3p a kilowatt hour, new panels needed to be both installed and registered by midnight last Sunday. Nottingham City Homes was planning to install solar panels on 1,333 homes by the end of March but following the Government's tariff announcement on October 31, it raced to complete the project by Sunday night. The last panels were registered to receive the benefit just minutes before midnight that day. Read more on the Nottingham Post website.