Solar Subsidy to be cut by 90% in January

zeupater

marcus_h wrote: »

Hey everyone. I am just trying to confirm - are the subsidies going to be cut, or was this just a predication?

Hi

It's currently a consultation, so is open to change depending on feedback, but my guess is that it will go ahead with changes to detail only, that's probably a less severe initial cut in rates or a phased steep reduction ....

HTH
Z

Martyn1981

UK’s energy department officials under fire as political opposition to FiT proposals mounts

UK energy secretary Amber Rudd and minister Andrea Leadsom have faced mounting pressure to revisit highly contentious feed-in tariff proposals as Members of Parliament (MPs) across the UK’s political parties criticised the plans.

In what could constitute a softening of language from the secretary, Rudd said it was “too early to say what the outcome of the consultation will be” and that the department was “determined to identify the right level of solar subsidies to continue growth”.

It’s the second time in as many days that Conservative MPs have voiced concern over their own party’s actions in relation to the feed-in tariff after Mayor of London and MP for Uxbridge Boris Johnson spoke of his concern for the cuts and their impact on investor confidence during Mayor’s Question Time yesterday afternoon.

The UK's Solar Trade Association (STA) is amongst the signees and Leonie Greene, head of external affairs at the STA, said: “The Government's proposals for British solar are extreme and they are damaging for both the industry and for consumers. Solar puts people and communities in control and the Government should back that – not take power from the people. It doesn't have to be like this, so we are reassured that so many organisations, from all walks of life, are joining our call for a rethink."

"It is quite wrong to suggest we cannot afford to go solar. The truth is we cannot afford not to. It's hard to think of a greater waste of public money than building up a strong British solar industry, hailed by the Prime Minister as a success, and then pushing it over a cliff before it is ready to fly," she added.

Mart.

Cardew

Surprise, surprise, the solar industry publications go to print!

oldskoo1

Sorry if I've misunderstood this but if this goes ahead am I protected? I got the rates which existed in June this year, will this stay the same for the 20 year period or can they cut my rates too?

EricMears

oldskoo1 wrote: »

Sorry if I've misunderstood this but if this goes ahead am I protected? I got the rates which existed in June this year, will this stay the same for the 20 year period or can they cut my rates too?

Never mind cut - your rates should continue to rise in line with inflation. It's only the new starters who'll be affected.

Martyn1981

Net cost of renewable subsidies nearly two-thirds less than LCF states, claims Good Energy report

The net cost of wind and solar incurred by the government was almost two-thirds (58%) less than costs reflected in the Levy Control Framework, a report by renewables utility Good Energy has claimed.

The study found that deployment of onshore wind and solar reduced the wholesale cost of electricity by £1.55 billion in 2014, meaning that the net cost of their subsidy cost amounted to just £1.12 billion.

The report also claimed that if existing savings were maintained, future deployment of the technologies could actually deliver net cost benefits to consumers, defying the Department of Energy and Climate Change's reasonings behind recent and planned cuts to renewables support.

Meanwhile the Solar Trade Association, who has today addressed an open letter to Amber Rudd detailing its '£1 rescue plan' to save solar deployment, said the report's publication was timely considering the closure of the government's feed-in tariff consultation this Friday.

"This analysis shows that the net effect on bills of supporting new rooftop solar - under the STA's £1 plan – is zero. The £100m we need added to consumer bills over three years will be completely offset by the savings from solar lowering the wholesale price. This is just the evidence that the Government needs," said an STA spokesperson.

Mart.

MFW_ASAP

"This analysis shows that the net effect on bills of supporting new rooftop solar - under the STA's £1 plan – is zero. The £100m we need added to consumer bills over three years will be completely offset by the savings from solar lowering the wholesale price. This is just the evidence that the Government needs," said an STA spokesperson.

A bold statement considering that very little, if any, metering exists to determine how much solar is getting to the grid. I know we have the laughable deemed amount of 50%, but with solar owners doing their very best to reduce the amount they 'lose' to the grid by redirecting to water heating and space heating via immerson type devices, I doubt very much that the value is at 50%.

zeupater

MFW_ASAP wrote: »

"This analysis shows that the net effect on bills of supporting new rooftop solar - under the STA's £1 plan – is zero. The £100m we need added to consumer bills over three years will be completely offset by the savings from solar lowering the wholesale price. This is just the evidence that the Government needs," said an STA spokesperson.

A bold statement considering that very little, if any, metering exists to determine how much solar is getting to the grid. I know we have the laughable deemed amount of 50%, but with solar owners doing their very best to reduce the amount they 'lose' to the grid by redirecting to water heating and space heating via immerson type devices, I doubt very much that the value is at 50%.

Hi

Actually, you probably can perform a pretty accurate estimate ...

I agree that small scale solar isn't metered, but considering that it provides a demand-side reduction on the grid, the solution for a pretty accurate estimate is to compare the demand profile of days, or sets of days, against the irradiation profiles for those days ... National Grid have the detailed supply-side provision dataset and the Met-Office hold detailed irradiation & temperature datasets ... should be pretty simple if you could source the data from them ...

In the meantime, if you look at the gridwatch site ... http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/ ... it's possible to see that there's a reduction in centralised generation supply which coincides with, and inversely mirrors, the expected typical pv generation profile and is even apparent at this time of year ...

HTH
Z

MFW_ASAP

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

Actually, you probably can perform a pretty accurate estimate ...

I agree that small scale solar isn't metered, but considering that it provides a demand-side reduction on the grid, the solution for a pretty accurate estimate is to compare the demand profile of days, or sets of days, against the irradiation profiles for those days ... National Grid have the detailed supply-side provision dataset and the Met-Office hold detailed irradiation & temperature datasets ... should be pretty simple if you could source the data from them ...

In the meantime, if you look at the gridwatch site ... http://gridwatch.templar.co.uk/ ... it's possible to see that there's a reduction in centralised generation supply which coincides with, and inversely mirrors, the expected typical pv generation profile and is even apparent at this time of year ...

HTH
Z

Your calculations don't help determine whether the energy generated was from roof-top solar (which the statement I quoted mentions) or from large scale solar farms.

Which takes me back to the point of my post, which is that without metering, it's not possible to be able to say whether roof-top solar is reducing the wholesale price. Everything else is just supposition and estimation..

EricMears

MFW_ASAP wrote: »

I know we have the laughable deemed amount of 50%, but with solar owners doing their very best to reduce the amount they 'lose' to the grid by redirecting to water heating and space heating via immerson type devices, I doubt very much that the value is at 50%.

I'd be amazed if the average panel owner manages to use anything like as much as 50% of their generation.

Of course there are some of us at home all day and using diverter technology but there are many more without such 'extras' and who work all week so really only able to benefit from 'free' electricity at the weekend.