FIT

The provisions for a fixed feed-in tariff (FIT) for all PV systems up to 500 kW in size have finally been published in France’s Official Journal – after an agonizing two year wait. pv magazine France provides the low down on tariffs, caps, carbon criteria, and integration.

The European Commission has determined France can offer the owners of building-mounted panels with a generation capacity of up to 500 kW a 20-year feed-in tariff without breaching the bloc’s state aid rules.

Newcomer Symbio Energy has been told it must hand over £450,000 it owes to the FIT program which reimburses small scale renewable energy generators. The payment is already a week overdue.

The government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy surveyed householders and small businesses and was told the prospect of firms having to pay higher taxes after installing PV prompted fury – just as the national solar trade body has been telling Whitehall for years.

With projects in many PV markets aging past the 10-year mark – with major leaps in technology having occurred in that time – revamping is a popular topic among asset owners. pv magazine spoke with Asier Ukar, general manager of the Spanish subsidiary of German engineering company PI Berlin, to uncover the benefits of revamping PV projects with new components and also to examine the challenges and risks involved.

A response issued by the Ministry of Justice to questions from an MP has revealed anxiety about any official comments on a case which involves a Lithuanian solar developer claiming restitution from the state after it retroactively reduced feed-in tariff payments for clean power in August.

Local lawsuits are reportedly set to cost the body set up to purchase clean power in Ukraine more than €24 million already, after the decision by the government in August to retroactively reduce FIT payments. Lithuanian clean power developer Modus Energy is preparing for its own suit, citing Ukraine’s international treaty obligations.

Lithuanian-owned solar developer Modus Energy International is reportedly seeking €11.5 million from the Ukrainian government after it retroactively reduced feed-in tariff payments from August. Modus claims Kiev breached the Energy Charter Treaty with its reduced-payment legislation.

The court has agreed with advocate-general Henrik Saugmandsgaard Øe that Italy’s move, in 2014, to reduce solar incentive payments contained in signed agreements held by developers does not breach EU law.

More than 7% of the U.K.’s solar generation capacity is now unsubsidized, according to trade body Solar Energy UK, with the nation reaching more than 14 GW of photovoltaic projects during the first three months of the year.