Industry blasts DECC's "disingenuous" solar payback calculations
17.05.12
The government is assuming a 35 year lifetime for solar panels, but brings the benefits of yrs 26 to 35 forward "in order to reduce the tariff necessary" to reach the government's stated goal of delivering an ROI of 4.5 per cent.
He said 35 years was an "unrealistic" timescale for solar panels, arguing that in that time many people will have left their homes or replaced the panels with more efficient alternatives.
"If a significant percentage of people are not going to get the full 35 years of benefit, then it is not much use claiming they get a 4.5 per cent ROI, because they will not," he added in an email.
Moreover, he noted that the government says the 4.5 per cent figure used in the calculation is "approximate only", and the actual rate of return stands at 4.45 per cent.
Williams also stressed the calculations confirm that the government is not recalibrating the feed-in tariffs to reflect the way it was originally set up under Labour, as energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne has claimed .
Source: Business Green
