Professional Builders Merchant

The DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change) will now have to wait until April to implement the cuts.

Had the DECC’s plans gone ahead, the tariff offered to those generating surplus electricity from photovoltaic installations, installed after the 12th December 2011, would have been cut by over 50% (43p per kWh to 21p per kWh).

This delay will give installers and PV stockists a chance to prepare for the cuts where there were fears that the proposed December cut-off would have hit revenue hard and risked thousands of jobs.

With customer confidence being the biggest limiting factor in the promotion of PV, the potential of a cut in incentive casted a lot of doubt over the value and appeal of solar panels to the consumer. A recent survey taken by Puragen revealed that only 20% of those asked would invest in solar panels if they had the spare cash, with 90% admitting that they would rather spend £10,000 refitting their kitchen of Bathroom.

Whilst it is hard to predict how significantly the cuts will affect the PV market, the fact that the benefits remain from other schemes such as the Renewable Heat Incentive and the Green Deal are likely encourage customers, eager to reduce their energy bills and carbon footprint, towards heating and insulation options.