Ikea has pulled residential solar PV systems from its shelves in the United Kingdom in response to drastic cuts in government solar subsidies, the Guardian reported on Monday.
The worlds leading furniture and home accessories retailer began selling residential solar PV systems in 2013 and expanded its offering the following year to all of its 17 stores in Britain. It partnered with Hong Kong-based Hanergy to offer affordable solar panels in view of growing customer demand for solar technology. In November, however, Ikea did not renew its contract with the solar PV group, the Guardian said. The decision followed the U.K. governments announcement of severe cuts to solar subsidies.
While Ikea has not given a reason for the move, a company spokeswoman told the newspaper that the retailer would begin selling solar panels again later this year. Other Chinese solar companies are said to be vying for a possible new deal with Ikea.
It remains unclear whether Ikeas decision to stop carrying Hanergy product reflects the PV companys ongoing financial troubles or whether it was based on the U.K.s less attractive incentives. Hanergy shares have remained suspended from trading since the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HKSFC) ordered the move last July.
Meanwhile, the U.K.s feed-in tariff program reopened this week after having been closed to new applicants for the past three weeks. However, it is now offering rates that are 65% lower than before and the program includes a new cap on installations, the newspaper added.
Popular content
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
Share
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.