Littlehampton solar roof hit by government changes

Arun is pressing ahead with its own scheme to install more than 200 electricity-producing PV panels on the roof of the Civic Centre in Littlehampton in spite of the government’s announcement that Feed in Tariff payments for the generated power will be cut by more than half.

The council says it will formally oppose the proposed changes, which affect installations completed after December 12.

Arun had been expecting to receive 39p per KwH of electricity its panels produced, but that is now set to drop to just 15.2p.

Contractors have started work preparing the Civic Centre but the panels are not due to be fitted until the New Year, so would be eligible only for the lower rate,

The proposed changes would increase the overall payback period of the scheme from five years to 11 and reduce the expected £18,789 saving to £10,817.

However, they would still harness free electricity for the Civic Centre and reduce the authority’s carbon emissions by 26 tonnes.

Arun cabinet member for the central services, with responsibility for green technologies, Councillor Dudley Wensley, said:

“This kind of technology represents a good and necessary investment for the future and while the announcement from government will certainly affect our scheme, it’s not going to stop us pushing ahead with it.

“As a council, we remain committed to green technology. We are doing all we can across our offices and buildings to reduce our carbon footprint and, where possible, we will always lead by example.

“Changing the feed, in tariffs at the 11th hour is very unhelpful and unfair to schemes, like ours, that were timetabled for completion before the tariff was supposed to reduce to a lower rate in March, 2012.

“We will answer the Government consultation formally opposing the changes.”

Residents who want to learn more about generating their own energy can do so on the Arun District Council website.