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The Solar Power Portal has reported that a third of the public would consider investing their own cash in small scale renewable projects including solar facilities, according to a new poll.

The survey, by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, also found that more than half of the 2,000 respondents think the UK government should support the construction of more renewable energy sources.

Significantly, 64% of the public is worried about possible blackouts, and 93% concerned about higher electricity and gas bills in future, the IME said.

Dr Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at the IME, said: “There are clear concerns that there is an insufficient amount of investment in new energy infrastructure and that the UK faces a future of high energy prices for consumers and possible blackouts.”

He claimed that government energy policy has been damaged by “mixed messages” on low-carbon energy policy and uncertainty over its support for a new nuclear build programme.

He said: “Government must stop playing politics with our energy system and the environment and make clear exactly how it is going to ensure that the country’s future needs are affordably met.

“It is only with this clarity that energy companies will have the confidence to invest in the infrastructure needed to keep the nation warm, lit, moving and working.”

The poll also revealed that a quarter of the public would consider investing in energy bonds where money would be used to build large energy infrastructure projects like nuclear power stations or large offshore wind farms.

The poll of 2,034 people was carried out by ICM on behalf of the IME in May.

As we revealed here, the European Commission has recently published in its Official Journal details of duties levied on Chinese solar module manufacturers.

The impact on the UK industry is likely to be severe in the short term, as low cost panels sourced from China have been key to providing UK customers with solar PV solutions that offer the maximum potential for return on investment; and with module costs set to spiral, these costs will inevitably be passed onto the customer as the industry will be unable to absorb these extra costs owing to its competitive nature and already tight profit margins.

While this development might cause short-term difficulties for the industry, the outlook for customers remains positive as companies like Green Planet look to adapt to these changes and offer alternate solutions.

The days of offering low cost PV packages based around cheap imports may be at an end, so the focus will now shift to providing premium solutions that offer better performance and greater yields.  They may cost more to install, but the return over the system lifetime is potential far greater, and with the ultra high efficiency modules from SunPower now available to UK customers, the potential return on investment is actually enhanced.

Green Planet has already changed its focus and has come up with a PV solution based around SunPower modules that offers exceptional value for money with a return on investment that exceeds those previously offered by low cost Chinese imports.

CLICK HERE to learn more about SunPower technology.

Source: www.solarpowerportal.co.uk

The European Commission has published in its Official Journal details of duties levied on Chinese manufacturers with Delsolar hit the hardest.

Yingli fared best with a duty rate of 37.3% as well as Jinzhou Yangguang Energy 38.3%. Delsolar was handed the highest tariff of 67.9%

However, lobby group AFASE has expressed doubts over the prima facie data handed by complainant EU ProSun to the EC which was used to devise the duty rates. AFASE claimed the survey produced by Germany-based market research company Europressedienst presented to the EC contained many discrepancies making it invalid for the investigation.

A poll by Europressedienst contacted 2,303 PV installers of which only 532 participated in the telephone survey. Residents of all 27 EU member states, most of whom were from Germany, Italy and France, were contacted, although the exact number of participants from each EU country has not been disclosed.

Europressedienst said that the number of companies questioned was “proportional to the capacity of newly installed PV systems in 2012”. Last year, overall PV capacity in Europe totalled 16.5GWp.

The findings of the market research company, as reported in the Official Journal, showed that overall consumption in the EU of Chinese solar products increased by 221% for modules, 87% for cells and 29% for wafers between 2009 and the investigation period of 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012. It also showed that consumption decreased in the investigation period compared to 2011.

Therefore, although EU consumption grew, the market share of European manufacturers decreased during the investigation period.

On the other hand, Europressedienst found that Chinese exporters took advantage of growing consumption in the EU by lowering prices and therefore increasing its market share.

For modules, the average import price decreased by 64%, the average import price of cells from China dropped by 42% and the average import price of wafers decreased by 40 %

As a result, the EC said Chinese exporters had caused injury to the European Union and determined the duty rates based on Europressedienst’s findings.

The journal also noted that the imposition of duties “may lead to an increase of prices in the union of the product under the investigation thus possibly generating less PV installations in the short term”.

The EC advises downstream companies, which it said would be the hardest hit by duties, to look elsewhere for employment as they would have “the skills necessary to benefit from the increased demand in these neighbouring sectors”.

Duty rates applicable from 6 August for companies that cooperated with the EC investigation are as follows:

Changzhou Trina Solar Energy
Trina Solar (Changzhou) Science & Technology
51.5%

Delsolar (Wujiang)
67.9%

Jiangxi LDK Solar Hi-Tech
LDK Solar Hi-Tech (Hefei)
LDK Solar Hi-Tech (Nanchang)
LDK Solar Hi-Tech (Suzhou)
55.9%

JingAo Solar
Shanghai JA Solar Technology
JA Solar Technology Yangzhou
Shanghai Jinglong Solar Energy Technology
Hefei JA Solar Technology
58.7%

Jinzhou Yangguang Energy
Jinzhou Rixin Silicon Materials
Jinzhou Youhua Silicon Materials
Jinzhou Huachang Photovoltaic Tech­nology
Jinzhou Jinmao Photovoltaic Technology
38.3%

Wuxi Suntech Power
Luoyang Suntech Power
Suntech Power
Wuxi Sun-Shine Power
Zhenjiang Ren De New Energy Science Technology
Zhenjiang Rietech New Energy Science Technology
48.6%

Yingli Energy (China)
Hainan Yingli New Energy Resources
Baoding Tianwei Yingli New Energy Resources
37.3%

Companies listed in the Annex of the Official Journal
47.6%

All other companies
67.9%

Effective from November 1st 2012 there has been a slight decrease in the feed-in tariff rate for solar PV installations.  The 3% reduction is in line with the DECC’s published degression rates which will see rates fall steadily over the next few years.

The rate for a typical domestic PV install <4kW is now 15.44p/kWh.  You can see a table showing the current rates here, and the projected future feed-in tariffs here.

Please note, the new rates apply only to installations after the 1st November 2012.  Installations that predate this or any other cut-off point will be paid at the rate secured at the time of install, a rate that is subject to indexation (RPI).