The coalition government was last week on the receiving end of a robust judgment from the High Court the effect of which is to prevent the government reducing the sum that households receive from the creation of electricity via solar panels.
Prior to the High Court’s ruling it was the government’s intention to halve the feed-in tariff for anyone who installed and registered their solar panels after 12 December 2011. However, the High Court has confirmed that they are not able to do so, meaning that until 1 March 2012 at least, the feed in tariff for generating electricity via solar panels shall remain at 42p per unit.
Whilst this is good news in the short term, the stark reality is that the government’s proposal to halve the feed in tariff on 1 March 2012 from 42p to 21p is not under threat of any court ruling. Therefore, in an era of souring energy prices and an over reliance on diminishing fossil fuel stocks, it would appear that alternative energy creation remains a long way down the list.