REI Mar-Apr 2012 - Renewable Energy Installer

Knowledge: Solar PV
In demand
Renewable energy
specialist, Enact
Energy, says
demand for solar PV
systems in the six
weeks leading up to
12 December reached
unprecedented levels
as homeowners
across the country
tried to secure the
higher Feed-in Tariff
(FiT) payments ahead
of the Department of
Energy and Climate
Change’s (DECC)
deadline
74 | www.renewableenergyinstaller.co.uk
Mad rush: John Egan, Enact Energy. The company experienced unprecedented levels of demand
for solar PV in the run up to the 12 December deadline
nact had teams of installers fitting
E
systems on domestic properties
across the country ahead of the 12
December cut-off, to help as many
of its customers as possible to benefit from the
higher FiT rate of 43.3 pence per kWh.
Senior management at the company
said staff in its call centre and its nationwide
network of installers had been working
flat-out in the six weeks between the DECC
announcement at the start of November which
set out plans to cut the Feed-in Tariff payments
to the new 21p per kWh for installations after
the 12 December 2011.
“As soon as the announcement was made
by DECC to cut Feed-in Tariff payments we saw
a significant upturn in homeowners looking to
beat the deadline. The six-week window gave
the industry very little room to meet any new
demand and we were faced with a situation
where we were having to turn customers away
knowing that there was simply not enough
time to go through the proper assessment and
installation process.
“Prior to the announcement, solar
electricity installation levels had been
increasing each quarter since the Feed-in Tariffs
were launched in April 2010, but enquiries and
orders grew dramatically in November as news
of the significant reduction in the FiT spread,”
said Enact Energy ceo, John Egan.
According to figures published in the
Ofgem quarterly review of the Feed-in Tariff
scheme, whilst a total of 80,875 installed
renewable installations had been undertaken
between April 2010 and December 2011, more
than 35,000 installations had been registered in
the last three months of the year alone, with PV
installations accounting for over 98 per cent of
installations undertaken.
The South West, South East and Scotland
remain the areas with the highest installed
capacity in Great Britain, with the largest
increase in installed capacity taking place in the
South West which saw a 268 per cent increase
between June and September 2011.
“Following the December deadline and the
subsequent High Court and Court of Appeal
Rulings, there is no doubt that the decision to
cut Feed-in Tariffs had a downward impact on
the numbers looking at solar,” said Egan.
“However, whilst in the short term the solar
PV industry will shrink, in the medium term we
fully expect the renewable energy industry as
a whole, to grow, albeit in a more sustainable
way as solar remains a viable investment
opportunity for homeowners particularly in
the light of the fact that capital costs for solar
systems have also dropped to their lowest level
ever, so it is not all doom and gloom,” he added.