Oral Answers to Questions

Neil Carmichael Excerpts

Thursday 24th March 2011 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)]

1. What assessment he has made of the likely level of take-up of domestic solar power by 2020.

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Gregory Barker)]

Analysis undertaken by the Department for Energy and Climate Change in February 2010 estimated that the feed-in tariff scheme would lead to the deployment of about 700,000 domestic solar photovoltaic installations by 2020. In the light of the reforms to the schemes and the falling costs, I believe that we can do significantly better than that.

[Neil Carmichael]

In view of the need for certainty in Government policy, what representations has the Minister received from the investment community since the announcement of the review of the fast-track tariff in relation to solar power?

[Gregory Barker]

The investors who were looking to invest in larger schemes are disappointed; that is coming through as part of the consultation. This was a difficult decision, and I can assure my hon. Friend that it was not taken lightly. We are, however, absolutely convinced that it was the right thing to do. We inherited from the previous Government a complete mess of a scheme with no proper financial controls or economic modelling, but we have now taken measures that mean we will avoid the boom and bust that we have seen in other countries across Europe. We are providing a platform for long-term growth.