Solar panel subsidy reinstated by court

Tens of thousands of households have won the right to an extra £500 per year in subsidies for their solar panels, after the Government lost its legal battle over the handouts.

In a blow to Ed Davey, the new Energy Secretary, a judge upheld an earlier court decision that the attempt to cut solar panel subsidies with little warning was unlawful.

The Supreme Court's refusal to hear an appeal means an extra £700million must be handed over to solar panel owners. This will have to be paid for through energy bills at a cost of about £8 per British household.

It will give extra money to people who installed solar panels between Dec 12 last year and the start of this month. The Government estimates that between 30,000 and 60,000 installations were made during this period.

Under the 25-year "feed-in tariff" subsidy, the Government pays people who produce energy through solar panels and recoups the cost through the energy bills of other homes and businesses.

Ministers last year halved the rate of subsidy for a typical household from 43.3p per kilowatt hour of solar power to 21p per kilowatt hour, as the cost of the scheme ballooned.

But officials slipped up by ordering the changes to come into effect two weeks before the end of the official consultation process. Lower subsidies will apply from April 1.

From: The Daily Telegraph