STA Urges Solar Citizens to Join the Fight for Fair Treatment

THE SOLAR TRADE Association is ramping up its campaign against Government proposals to remove the fair market payment from new rooftop solar generators for the clean power they put into the network next year.

BEIS have proposed to remove the ‘export tariff’, with little indication as to what will replace it.

The plan flies in the face of new EU legislation which requires all countries to remunerate ‘self-generators’ (people who generate their own clean power) at a fair market rate. It comes as the IPCC warns that time to prevent dangerous climate change is fast running out.

Fight for Fair Treatment

Over 300 organisations have now signed the STA’s letter to Energy Minister Claire Perry urging her to reverse these proposals.

The STA is increasingly linking up with a wide range of concerned stakeholders to convey the breadth of opposition to the proposals, including in a series of videos, from community energy groups and local government leaders urging fair treatment, to homeowners and school representatives. The STA is also lobbying MPs directly in a #Fair4Solar Coalition including the NFU, Church of England, Electrical Contractors Association, WWF-UK, Community Energy England, UK Youth Climate Coalition and 10:10.

STA Advocacy Director, Leonie Greene said, “Locally generated solar power is a valuable commodity so it would be wrong not to pay people for contributing to the clean energy supply we so desperately need. The export tariff is a sensible and established method for paying smaller contributors fairly in a market that remains squarely set up for very large-scale players.

“We all know we need to transition to a much more decentralised smart grid, but there is some way to go before the system enables people to participate on a level playing field. So it is vital that we retain the export tariff and we urge everyone who cares about solar power and the rights of everyday people to participate in the clean energy transition to join our fight for fair treatment for solar power.”

The Association is urging its members, the industry and all stakeholders who care about solar power to join their lobby by contacting their MP, spreading the word on social media and signing both the Greenpeace petition, as well as the STA’s letter to the Minister.

A #Fair4Solar campaign pack of social media tools is freely available for use by all stakeholders here. Eight actions people can take are set out on the STA’s campaign webpage.