Sir – One aspect of the Government’s recently announced rushed changes to the feed in tariff (FIT) for solar panels that was not covered in Chris Koenig’s informative article (November 10) is the new barriers to participation being proposed.

From April next year, properties will need an energy efficiency rating of ‘C’ or above, or to have completed all ‘Green Deal’ measures, in order to qualify for the newly reduced tariff of 21p per unit, otherwise they will receive just 9p.

Improving the energy efficiency of our homes is of course important and necessary to cut our emissions, but it can be expensive: it costs around £7,500 on average to bring the least efficient houses up to grade C.

This means that those in fuel poverty, who are most in need of the kind of help the FIT can provide, will be least likely to qualify for it. As only about 10 per cent of houses are currently up to grade C standard, this also means that the potential market for solar photovoltaic (PV) panels will be drastically reduced — probably a more serious threat to the PV industry than the reduction in rates.

I encourage readers who are concerned about these ill-thought out changes to sign the Friends of the Earth ‘Final Demand’ petition at www.foe.co.uk/finaldemand.

Karl Wallendszus, Oxford Friends of the Earth