It would seem the DECC were really determined to get the Feed In Tariff rate cut, but let’s not assume just because they are the government, and just because they want renewable energy consumers to earn less each year, let’s not assume they are ‘the bad guys’, should their predictions be true, and the former FiT rate was unsustainable, we would be staring down the barrel at either higher taxes to offset the expense, or possibly the removal of the Feed In Tariff all together.
April 2012 introduced the ‘EPC Requirements’, an Energy Performance Certificate uses a rating system from A to D, a property is required to earn an EPC grade of D or higher in order for them to obtain the newly cut FiT rate of 21p, should a property looking to install Solar Panels on their roof(s) not meet the grade of D or higher, they receive an even lower FiT rate of 9p, another significant cut to the impressive Feed In Tariff policy. It’s not difficult for most properties to gain a D rating, and should a property fall short, it usually wouldn’t take much to get it up to an EPC rating of D, I guess it just seems like another hurdle consumers have to get over in order to start helping the environment…
DECC start planning again, May 2012, they reveal a pre-planned rate degression per quarter, the new rate would be based on a regular percentage drop to minimalise disruption, all determined by the size of the solar PV system being installed and due to start by November 2012.
And so we come to the final FiT rate cuts of the year, the first in August which resulted in the already reduced FiT rate of 21p being brought down further to 16p and November saw DECC’s plan come to fruition as part of the degression plan the rates fill decrease by 3.5%
This takes us to the end of 2012 and over the 10 years discussed there has been an incredible increase Solar PV Installations, measured in the UK by the Solar PV Installed Capacity of Gigawatts, so clean renewable energy is on the rise, the public are really beginning to embrace Solar Panels as a reliable alternative.
