So a lot of taxpayers’ money continues to go out in lawyers’ fees rather than in support for the renewable energy industry, and we can expect a lot of government propaganda about how those of us who have already got PV panels are impoverishing those who haven’t (you heard it here first).

So what does it mean? Assuming they don’t appeal to the Supreme Court, or that they lose again, we’ll get the fall-back provision. And that is – if you install PV panels by MARCH 3rd, you’ll get 44.3p for every unit (kWh) you generate, index-linked to the Retail Prices Index, tax-free, for 25 years.  If your installation is AFTER March 3rd, you’ll get 21p, index-linked, tax free, for 25 years.

At the same time, prices of panels are falling rapidly as the industry tries to respond to the halving of the FITs from 43.3p to 21p for a 4Kwp array.  At the moment the internet is full of offers appearing to involve a return on investment of over 10%, and with some electricity companies now charging 20p a unit for bought electricity it’s still an attractive proposition even at the lower rate.

We still urge you to be careful; there are some cowboys out there, and if an offer looks too good to be true, it probably is!

Watch this space for further updates!

As we understand it, the ruling means that the government cannot change the tariffs until at least 40 days after they have been laid before parliament.  This means the earliest date from which the new tariffs could be implemented would be 19 February.  So .. if you are one of those who thought you’d just missed the boat – you might not have done!

Friends of the Earth and two solar firms brought the successful challenge (read their press release here).

The popularity of the scheme was such that the budget for it was already under pressure, and when the Treasury demanded 10% cuts ministers decided to bring forward the reduction in FIT from April 2012 to December 12th this year.  They consulted on this ‘proposal’, but with a closing date of 23 December for representations to be made (10 days After the cuts were implemented) it was fairly clear that the consultation was a sham.  Consultations must be held in a spirit of openness and there must be a possibility that the responses will be considered.  Many government ‘consultations’ result in no change, but the announcement usually starts with a phrase like “..having considered carefully the representations made..”.  No chance of that  this time, so we’re not surprised that there’s a legal challenge.

Those who stuck with their installations despite missing the deadline may find it was a good decision, and they get a nice Christmas present.  But don’t hold your breath – we think these cuts will come in as soon as the government can do it.

In a strange example of truthful despair, the politicians trumpeted the fact of  their agreement, at the same time acknowledging that it wouldn’t be good enough “for the science” as they put it.  Imagine if you will, that you had a fever;  the doctors tell you if your temperature reaches 40 degrees you’ll die, but they can’t agree on what treatment to prescribe – so they are going to give you treatment that probably means your temperature will rise to 41 or 42.  But not for another nine years…

Worse – imagine that this is hereditary; and that because of that delay your children and grandchildren will suffer the same or even a worse fate.  Wouldn’t you be just a little bit angry?  You might take it up with your MP – but what if he said  that despite what the doctors said there was a bloke in the pub who said the doctors’ view was rubbish, so in view of this difference of opinion he wasn’t going to do anything about it at the moment – but he’d definitely do something about it in 2020?

We think it is a moral outrage.  Those who have read Mark Lynas’ book “Six Degrees” will know that at four degrees the countries bordering the Mediterranean will be arid desert by the end of this century, and the lush plains of South Africa will be likewise empty. In Britain, London and the South-East will suffer severe drought but torrential rainfall will fall in increasingly ferocious storms in the north.  Between them , these processes will reduce currently productive land to thin infertile soil. Because of the sea around us we will be protected from the worst effects of global warming, but we shall be overrun by those seeking asylum from the new deserts.  At the same time an estimated eight million homes and 16 million people in the UK will become at risk of flooding as the Arctic, Antarctic and Greenland ice caps melt and sea levels rise.  On the other hand, the insects will love it.

We warned of all this two years ago, when the climate summit at Copenhagen fell apart. At four degrees, Alexandria, Boston, London, Mumbai, New York and Venice are all below sea level by 2075.  Bangladesh will be losing one third of its land area.

Still, Little Mix won the X Factor, so all is well.

On 10 November, we received information from the communications officer of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) informing us that the Israeli authorities have decided to cut off the only source of electricity to Imneizil, a Palestinian village in the South Hebron hills. The village had no access to electricity, water and sewage networks due to military restrictions until a Spanish NGO intervened to install solar panels – disregarding the army refusal to provide a building permit. The Israeli authorities now intend to tear down a set of solar panels in the south Hebron hills. 390 residents (forty families), a health clinic, and a school will be affected.

The new  tariffs will apply to all new solar PV installations with an eligibility date on or after 12 December 2011. Such installations will receive the current (43.3p) tariff before moving to the lower tariffs on 1 April 2012. Consumers who already receive FITs will see their existing payments unchanged, and those with an eligibility date on or before 12 December will receive the current rates for 25 years.  So, if you’ve already got panels, you’re ok; and if you’re going to get them installed, do it before the 12th December and – crucially – make sure the energy company receives your FIT application before the 12th.

The government argues that installation costs have fallen by at least 30% and that the average installation cost has fallen from £13,000 to £9,000.  In addition, rising energy prices mean that the savings are greater, giving greater returns on the capital cost of installation than expected .  The new tariffs should reduce the return to about 4.5 – 5%, which is what they planned in the first place.  They will remain index-linked and tax-free for domestic installations. Bigger projects up to and beyond  50kW will also face much lower FITs and it’s quite probable that many community projects will now be still-born.

The extra sting in the tail is that the government proposes  prioritising energy efficiency by linking PV tariffs to specified minimum energy efficiency requirements (such as having an energy efficiency certificate rated C or above), also from 1 April 2012.  The argument runs that there’s no point in supporting energy generation in houses that aren’t energy efficient in other ways. So if, for example, you live in a house with solid walls, you’re more likely to be able only to get a reduced Feed in Tariff (of about 9p per kWh)  They don’t say how they will decide on eligibility, but one of the strengths of the old scheme was the lack of bureaucracy, and this proposal looks like it will generate a lot of extra form-filling.

There’s a lot of helpful detail on the Energy Saving Trust’s website but the significant thing from our point of view is that they calculate the rate of return as about 4.5% – meaning the pay-back period on a typical 2.9kW system costing £11,500 will be about 20 years.  We think this will choke off all but the most committed climate carers.  On the other hand, those who already have PV panels should see the value of their houses increase.

Go On, Make a Fuss

In the government’s press release, Climate Change and Energy Minister Greg Barker said:
“My priority is to put the solar industry on a firm footing so that it can remain a successful and prosperous part of the green economy, and so that it doesn’t fall victim to boom and bust.”  On this showing, we think there’s a definite possibility that the solar industry will do the latter, and another great opportunity to really tackle the ever -increasing dangers of climate change will be lost.

If you want to tell the government what you think, click here for more details. It would be nice if you rattled their cage a bit, telling them that, for example, it’s difficult to square a decision to reduce the return on investment to 4.5% with the 12% return they’re happy to give large corporations who invest under the Private Finance Initiative in hospitals and schools  (but there again, individual householders are small fry, as are the hundreds of entrepreneurs who have been installing PV panels all over the country and who face a very sudden drop in demand for their services).  Or you could point out that being the greenest government ever doesn’t mean as soon as you have met one target for renewable energy generation you  have to apply the brakes.  Or again, that the savings made by all these little power stations have been achieved in record time and without any capital risk put in by the government or the energy suppliers, and without any interminable public inquiries that would have accompanied any proposals to build the new power station that they collectively represent.

We’re very disappointed, you can tell…