Will Solar Panel Farms soon be popping up across counties like Suffolk?

Will Solar Panel Farms soon be popping up across counties like Suffolk

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Recently, Chris Huhne, the new environmental secretary, surprised the renewable sector in the UK by announcing an early review of the government incentives for green energy, otherwise known as the feed-in-tariffs.

Many people in the green energy sector believe the feed-in-tariffs have kick-started the low carbon economy in the UK, creating a sharp increase into investment in renewables, especially solar panels. Why, then, would the government, who have promised to be the greenest' government ever, decide to review these incentives less just nine months after they were launched?

The answer is within the recent plans both local authorities and private financiers are announcing. Across Great Britain, many firms are acquiring plots of land with the aim of creating solar panel farms. Due to the very attractive rates the feed-in-tariffs give to PV solar panels (8-10% return on investment, tax free), and the lack of investment opportunities elsewhere, this opportunity is luring bigger players than the government had originally anticipated.

In my home county of Suffolk there is speculation about massive scale investment into solar panel farms. Due to its flat landscape, Suffolk is perfectly placed to have solar farms.

Additionally, Suffolk County Council made a pledge in 2008 to become the UK's greenest council'. With its neighbour, Norfolk County Council, already looking at setting up its own Energy Services Company (ECSO), Suffolk will almost certainly be looking to play catch up, with the aim to overtake.

There are a number of ways Suffolk County Council could do this. One which seems incredibly obviously to me is building solar farms on old landfill sites. These are ideal because they cannot be built on, they are owned by the Council and are already connected to the grid.

As alluded to earlier, the problem the government may have with all of this is it was not what the feed-in-tariffs were designed for. The money is supposed to go to homeowners and small businesses who decide to invest. While the government might not mind local authorities making a profit that gets reinvested into services, it certainly does not want to see financiers making massive profits from this scheme. This is why Chis Huhne has called an early review.

So now the race is on, can the government amend the feed-in-tariff legislation to stop the city boys' getting involved? Or will be see solar panel farms appearing across counties like Suffolk? Watch this space.

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