Over the past few months we’ve seen four major UK solar companies shutter their doors, all of them citing recent government cuts to clean energy initiatives as motivating their decision.

Zep Solar UK, a subsidiary of Elon Musk-backed SolarCity, closed most recently, with Southern Solar, Mark Group and Climate Energy closing earlier in the month, amounting to around 1,000 lost jobs in the solar industry.

In regards to their closure, Zep Solar UK publicly stated: “We had been exploring opportunities in the UK but based on the DECC decision we’re left to conclude that the UK government doesn’t support solar development.”

DECC Decision

The company refers to a decision made by the Department of Energy and Climate Change in July to cut feed-in tariffs for solar. For those unfamiliar, feed-in tariffs incentivize residential and business owners to adopt solar by compensating them for generating surplus solar energy.

As reported by Greenpeace, these incentives are crucial to solar energy’s growth in the UK, as the more people who are willing to adopt the clean technology, the faster it will improve in terms of efficiency and productivity. The intention is to counterbalance the relatively high upfront costs of installing a solar energy system with higher energy payments that will benefit users over time.

Eventually solar power everywhere will evolve into a financially viable choice without the need for government subsidies to back it. But in many areas of the world, the industry still needs assistance during this formative period.

This decision follows the closure of the Renewables Obligation in June, which benefited wind energy producers as well as solar, and the sudden removal of the Climate Change Levy Exemption in July, which allowed businesses to pay lower energy taxes when using renewable energy sources.

US Supports Solar Growth, Despite UK Setbacks

All of these cuts make investing in solar energy in the UK more difficult for both consumers and solar companies, who already have the huge burden of convincing their customers to adopt new and unfamiliar technology. Meanwhile, other countries like the U.S. are making significant efforts to support solar growth.

According to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, the scheme was an “out-dated climate-change levy exemption for renewable electricity that has seen taxpayer money benefiting electricity generation abroad.” The department is claiming that these budget cuts will help lower the average household’s bills.

Some note that these cuts to solar come at the same time that spending on nuclear power projects is being increased. A new nuclear power station will cost UK citizens an estimated “£92.50 per megawatt hour for 35 years to repay the money invested by the Chinese government and the project’s lead company EDF,” significantly more than solar power or other clean energy sources.

Many feel that while solar does cost the government additional money, the percentage of total energy spending is relatively low for the large benefits that investing in this up-and-coming technology could yield.

Never a Better Time to Go Solar in the U.S.

As we know, there has never been a better time to go solar in the U.S, especially with the possibility of solar incentives like net energy metering expiring in the coming years. The technology is making huge progress every year thanks to these programs that encourage and foster growth. Hopefully, the UK solar industry will find a way to continue to thrive, despite the many setbacks it has recently suffered.

If you’d like to find out how installing solar panels on your roof can help you drive your electric bill down to zero, contact us today for a free quote.