Are you considering solar panels for your roof? If so, you’ll be joining a growing trend of home and property owners throughout the EU. According to a report from Solarbuzz, sales in the solar panels market in Europe increased by 23 percent in the last quarter of 2011. While a big percentage of that increase was in Germany, with solar PV sales that were 63 percent higher in 2011 than in 2010, the UK did its own super surge. According to DECC figures, the solar capacity of the UK increased tenfold in the last two months of 2011. You read that right. There were enough solar PV systems installed in 2011 to increase the solar capacity of the UK by a factor of ten – that’s 10 times the wattage that had been installed in all the years previous.
Dr. Alan Turner, Vice President of Solarbuzz, noted that most people were surprised by how strong the market was in the fourth quarter of 2011, particularly in Germany and the UK. The overall growth in the solar panels industry last year was 18 percent. The last quarter’s growth substantially increased the growth figure.
Surprisingly, the growth wasn’t damaged by major cuts to incentive programs that subsidize solar panels and solar PV system installations in Germany, Italy and France. The UK Government also announced an unexpected early reduction in the feed-in transfer subsidy that was expected to support growth in the solar industry for some time. The reduction, which was intended to cut the FiTS rate from 43.3p to 21.1p effective the beginning of December. Thousands of property owners jumped into the queue to have solar PV installed before the rates dropped in the hopes of locking in the 43.3p solar panels subsidy for 25 years.
A collection of solar industry players challenged the Government’s decision in court and won, successfully stalling the FiTS reduction when the court declared that the short notice of the reduction in tariff was “legally flawed”. The Government’s appeal to the High Court was successfully rebuffed in January, and is appealing the decision to the UK Supreme Court. Until the Supreme Court hears the appeal and reaches a decision, the solar PV industry is in a state of uncertainty.
The lower price for solar panels also contributed to the surge in solar PV sales and installations. The cost of solar panels and solar PV installation fell at a surprisingly fast rate, particularly during 2011, making the UK’s very generous FiTS especially attractive. The 43.3p rate could be available to those who install solar panels before 3 March, though there’s no guarantee of that. There is, however, a guarantee of at least 21.1p per kilowatt hour subsidy, which most experts say is still a good deal for those planning to install solar panels.
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