Policy

Australia’s Capital Territory (ACT) feed-in tariff has been expanded to include medium to large-scale solar projects in order to cater for larger commercial and industrial farms as well as community groups. According to the Australian Solar Energy Society, the gross feed-in tariff, which pays a premium for all solar energy generated, is now available for solar panel installations 30kW to 200kW.

The backlash to the U.K. Government’s decision to launch a comprehensive review of its feed-in tariff on Monday has begun. Dissenting voices are becoming increasingly audible, with ministers publically bemoaning the coalition’s decision and airing fears about its long-term impact on the solar industry.

A sudden rise in the number of solar power installations in Italy is being investigated by the government over fears of feed-in tariff (FiT) fraud, according to Industry Minister Paolo Romani.

Despite the confusion over the GSE’s PV installation figures for 2010, Barclays Capital PV analyst Vishal Shah said in an investors note that no matter what the actual installation figure will be for 2010, it is increasingly likely that the Italian government would have to pay for 6GW worth of subsidies at the 2010 FiT rate.

Federal Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen and the German Solar Industry Association have agreed to bring forward the reductions of financial support for solar power in order to facilitate the further expansion of photovoltaics in Germany. The government revealed late last week that, together with the industry, it was set to bring in a reduction of up to 12%, which would be pulled forward six months to July 1st this year.

According to a new report from market research firm Photon Consulting, the PV industry is looking at a supply-driven price crash on the back of expected strong feed-in tariff cuts in Germany over the next two-years, which will dampen demand sufficiently to cause a glut in modules and impact the entire supply-chain.

On Christmas Eve the Spanish Government made the controversial decision to again cut the financial support offered to solar power generators. The unstable budget situation in the country has forced the Government into a corner in which it will now make significant cutbacks to subsidies for PV plants installed on the Iberian Peninsular, with the additional reduction affecting existing as well as new installations over the next three years.

After months of speculation surrounding the country’s solar feed-in tariff, Turkey has now made photovoltaic power generation subsidy payments law. Under the regulation, payments for renewable energy generation will be determined as dollar cent, as opposed to Euro cent, in Turkish Parliament.

The Czech Senate has approved a new law, which will add a 26% tax on solar energy production over the next three years, as well as 32% tax on carbon credits awarded to solar companies in the next two years. The new taxes will apply to all photovoltaic plants that were guaranteed to receive a fixed feed-in tariff (FiT) for a period of 20 years.

Australia's Minister for Climate Change, Greg Combet has revealed that the country's subsidies for households that install solar panels will end a year earlier than planned. The Solar Credits Scheme, originally implemented in 2008, which gives households up to five times more renewable energy credits for the electricity generated by their solar systems, will now end in mid-2014, with the credit 'multiplier' reduced every year until that date.