Head of trade body warns almost none of next year's £161m budget for feed-in-tariffs is left for new installationsThe fledgling boom in solar power across the UK is in danger of being snuffed out, the renewable energy industry has warned, as ministers have determined to stick by spending plans that would severely limit future investment in the power source.
Almost all of next year's budget for feed-in tariffs – a subsidy paid to generators of solar power and other forms of small-scale renewable energy – is already "spoken for", because it will have to be allocated to existing solar installations, according to Dave Sowden, chief of the Micropower Council, the trade body for the sector. Once the renewable energy equipment has been installed, the owner is entitled to feed-in tariffs for as long as it generates electricity, unless the government changes the rules in future.
Read the full story: www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/22/solar-power-feed-in-tariffs-budget