Government to appeal solar panel ruling

Posted by Robert Shields

The British government is to appeal the ruling from the High Court that said its decision to bring forward the decrease in Feed-in Tariff rates for solar PV panels is illegal, as it takes its case to the Supreme Court.

In December, the government decided to move the date for cutting the money people could earn from selling excess energy back to the National Grid from April 2012 to December 2011. This meant that many plans had to be scrapped because people no longer saw the panels as economically viable.

However, Friends of the Earth sued the government and won. Now, though, it said that it expects to see the government appeal the decision.

"If Ministers want to protect families from soaring fuel bills they must get the nation off its fossil fuel hook - and restore business confidence in the government's commitment to a clean energy future," said Friends of the Earth director Andy Atkins, adding that a successful appeal would let the government change tariffs at any time in the future.