SOLAR panel installers in Oxfordshire warn that expected cuts to Government subsidies threaten to “cripple” the industry.

Jason Hobbins, managing director and founder of EnergyMyWay of Kidlington, said he was surprised when the Government announced in August that it would review the “feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme” as solar panel costs fell.

Under the scheme, people can get payments from their energy supplier if they generate their own electricity, for example with solar panels.

The Government closed submissions for its consultation on the FIT scheme on October 23 and the renewable energy industry expects it to announce cuts to FIT subsidies starting in January.

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Mr Hobbins said: “It is going to have a negative impact on us short term, but it will give us the chance to look at other markets.” He said if they were just doing solar he would be “really worried.”

If we were just doing [solar] PV [photovoltaics], I would be really worried.”

Mr Hobbins set up the firm in 2008 to install solar panels and solar hot water systems in houses and commercial buildings but has since diversified into products such as heat pumps and wind turbines.

Neil Tull, owner of Dainbridge Building Services in Abingdon, said of the anticipated subsidy cuts: “This will really cripple the industry in the short term. We’re looking at other revenue sources now. There won’t be the same demand as in the past.”

He said Dainbridge, which he set up five years ago, was at one stage installing solar panels two or three times a week, but this has dropped to about two per month.

He added: “The incentive has been taken out of the market.”

Official policy is for the UK to generate 15 per cent of its energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020.

Mr Hobbins said that while the cost of solar panels has halved over the past four years, he doubted they could fall much further.

He added: "The frustration of the industry is that we needed two more years. Costs would have come down, [electricity] prices would have gone up, and it would have made perfect sense for subsidies to be reduced.”

He said it now cost about £6,500 to install solar panels on an average-sized house.

The National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers (NAPIT), a trade association that represents electrical workers, plumbers and others in the building services industry, found 70 per cent of members who replied to a survey said FIT reductions would negatively impact the financial stability of their business, and they would consider leaving the industry as a result.

Martin Benson, NAPIT spokesman, said the group had about 20 members registered as solar panel installers in Oxfordshire, compared to 1,100 members across the UK.

A spokesman for the Department of Energy & Climate Change said: “Our priority is to keep bills as low as possible for hardworking families and businesses, while reducing our emissions in a cost-effective way.”