News

STA call on government to support mid-sized solar

The Solar Trade Association has called on the government to clearly outline how it is to support mid-sized PV installations.

It says it has been left in the dark on where the 250kW-5MW banding of installations fit into current financial support mechanisms following cuts to the Feed-in Tariff and the ongoing Renewable Obligation (RO) Banding Review.

Installations of this size have ground to a halt under the Feed-in Tariff since it was cut to 7.1p in July forcing some developers to turn to the RO at 2 ROCs.

With FiT remaining an unattractive route for developers and the impending likelihood of the RO (which is primarily aimed at larger installations) being reduced, the STA feels that support will be inadequate to support the mid-sized PV sector going forward.

Leonie Greene, The STA’s head of external affairs, said: “We feel that mid-sized installations have fallen through the gap. The support under FiT is too low and this category of installation is not even being consulted on in the RO Banding Review.

“We would like to know how this will be resolved and how the government will support it in the future. There has been talk of incorporating another band within FiT plus we feel the RO isn’t really the right mechanism to support this size of installation anyway.”