FITs have now been adopted in 19 EU countries, and 47 worldwide, but not yet in Britain. The most succesful FIT to date has been in Germany where the German economy has been strengthened, not weakened, by a rush into renewables.
In the foreseeable future, electricity from solar panels will cost the same as that produced from fossil fuels much earlier than had been expected say various sources within the solar industry.
It is expected that grid parity will be reached for residential homes much sooner because the cost of silicon, a key component in most solar panels, is expected to fall significantly over the next decade.
Reports predicts that government plans to introduce a feed-in tariff from April 2010 will guarantee an above-market price for businesses and householders selling solar power back to the grid, and also help drive down long-term costs by boosting demand for solar panels.
The UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change announced in October 2008 that the UK would implement a feed-in tariff by 2010 in addition to its current renewable energy quota scheme (see ROCS).
it is calculated that rising fossil fuel costs will further speed the arrival of grid parity, noting that the global energy watchdog the International Energy Agency has predicted that an oil supply crunch could come into effect between 2010 and 2012.
Once grid parity is achieved, consumer adoption of solar panels will become widespread, leading to further price reductions in production.
Consultation on the shape and rates of a new ‘clean energy cash-back’ scheme (Feed in Tariff) has been announced by Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, and to be in place by April next year. People and businesses that generate their own electricity from low carbon sources will be paid for doing so. A similar scheme for renewable heat will follow in April 2011.
