The Solar Trade Association has responded to the UK Government’s plan to scrap the solar Feed-in Tariff and the export tariff. Credit: Stormcraft Home Improvements.

The Solar Trade Association (STA) has criticised the UK Government’s plan to ditch the solar Feed-in Tariff, in what is considered by the STA as a “disappointing blow to the solar industry”.

According to the STA, 62% of UK citizens polled in a survey by Client Earth said they wanted to install solar power in their household, while 60% were in favour of home battery storage.

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However, the decision to scrap the solar Feed in-Tariff and the export tariff, which provides payment to citizens in exchange for using and selling clean energy back to the grid, is likely to deter people from new installations.

STA chief executive Chris Hewett said: “The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has taken this decision even before it sets out how it will overcome a really fundamental market failure that risks seeing new solar homes put power on the grid for free from next April.

“At a bare minimum, government should retain the export tariff until an effective, alternative way to fairly remunerate solar power is implemented.”

The BEIS received 345 responses during the consultation on the export tariff, with 91% of respondents saying that it should be kept in place. The STA said a petition to maintain the export tariff was sent to Energy Minister Claire Perry in August, which was signed by 350 organisations. However, the letter was ignored.

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Hewett added: “Nobody is saving any money here because the export tariff is not a subsidy. Last month Energy Minister Claire Perry said that she would not allow a situation where solar generators would have to give away their power for free.

“We urgently need her to set out the detail behind plans for an export floor price as soon as possible to prevent the uncertainty that today’s announcement will create from damaging market confidence any further. The STA has proposed a number of viable options, so there is no justifiable reason for delay.”

Along with the termination of the solar Feed-in Tariff, the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) could also be lost. The MCS is a national quality assurance scheme for energy microgeneration technologies used to produce electricity and heating from green sources, and is currently eligible for government financial benefits under the solar Feed-in Tariff. Its eradication, however, could have negative consequences for consumer standards and safety. Illicit selling of solar power and products could rise during this period of non-clarity.

Additionally, the STA said the government has not considered its obligation to compensate solar producers who are exporting to the grid, under Renewable Energy Directive II, which is set to be ratified on 21 December.