Your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news

The Czech Republic's Prime Minister, Jan Fischer, has called for a cut in the amount of incentives available for renewable energy in the country. These possible cuts follow similar news from France, Germany and Italy this year. The Minister says that a cut to feed-in tariff prices is a 'priority' in the country, as without it the current boom of solar projects could lead to a 'significant' increase in electricity prices for consumers.

Several sources, including Bloomberg and Reuters, have now confirmed that Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet has backed plans to cut solar-power subsidies in Germany. New rooftop solar systems' FiT rate will be chopped by 16% while solar parks built after July 1 will receive cuts of 15%, less than the 25% the Environment Ministry originally proposed for parks.

Since the release of the feed-in tariff rates for the UK, Sharp Energy Solutions Europe has announced that it plans to significantly expand its resources in the region as the company expects a large amount of PV uptake within the next couple of years.

Reuters has reported that the Italian government plans to reduce the cuts it previously announced to solar incentives, according to the latest draft of a decree obtained on February 22. The decree states that for large solar plants of over 1MW, the proposed tariff as of January 1, 2011, is €0.313/kWh compared with the €0.298 /kWh in the previous version. The €0.313/kWh tariff is expected to decline to €0.2642/kWh at the end of 2011. The tariffs will then fall by 6% a year in 2012 and 2013.

A Bloomberg report released on February 22 claims that German chancellor Angela Merkel's government will again revise the subsidy cuts for farmland converted to take solar systems. According to an unpublished draft put together by the government, this kind of installation will no longer receive financial support.

The UK feed-in tariff rates have now been finalized, offering its residents a financial incentive for producing renewable energy. The government has confirmed the proposed rate, which will begin to take effect from April 1, 2010.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband announced the FiT levels and also published a blueprint for a similar scheme to be introduced in April 2011, which will offer incentives for low carbon heating technologies.

"The guarantee of getting an income on top of saving on energy bills will be an incentive to householders and communities wanting to make the move to low carbon living."

It has been rumored on the wires that there will be yet another change to the German FiT plans. Reuters has now reported that the German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen wants to delay his proposed 15% cuts in solar subsidies by one month.  This means that the proposed cuts will not go ahead until May 1 instead of April 1. Reuters claims that its government sources say that there are plans for further cuts after 2011 that could be steeper than Roettgen is now planning. This new proposal would include 3.5% additional subsidy cuts (on top of planned ~9% subsidy reduction) if the overall installations exceed 3.5GW. The current proposal calls for 2.5% additional subsidy cuts.

Solar project and systems integrator S.A.G. Solarstrom has raised concerns over the negative impact that the changes to the German feed-in tariff will have on German-based PV module manufacturers and installers. The company noted that the cuts will quickly lead to job losses as demand slows and low-cost China-based producers gain additional market share as competition intensifies on weaker demand. The lower prices required to provide adequate financial returns for customers will benefit Chinese producers over German manufacturers, especially in the former East German states, where jobs creation is hardest and unemployment benefits are the most prevalent.

Since the recent announcement of German's FiT cuts, sector analysts have begun speculating on what the impact of this will be on the solar PV market. Vishal Shah of Barclays Capital Solar Energy reports that this could likely affect both volume and pricing trends in the German market, yet not necessarily in a negative way.

France has revised its feed-in tariff rates down from the original proposals in September 2009. The new rates include an increase in some ground-mounted and BIPV tariffs, as well as some decreases. The new changes are due to take effect on January 1, 2010.