Leaders of thousands of solar installers in the UK celebrated a rare victory that the Treasury acknowledged. The finance ministry issued a call for evidence on Wednesday regarding measures relating to the spring budget, including the elimination of an anomaly whereby battery installations are VAT (Value Added Tax) free when initially installed with rooftop panels but are subject to VAT if placed as an update afterward. Trade organizations, such as SolarEnergyUK, have voiced their displeasure with the Johnson administration’s inconsistent policies. They claim it discourages commercial clients and Britain’s 1.1 million PV-equipped houses from implementing power storage systems. 

The issue has drawn criticism from the House of Lords as well. 

Lord Foster of Bath had stated in September of last year that there shouldn’t be a fiscal incentive to install a battery at one time and not another. LibDem peer stated that we shouldn’t penalize homeowners and occupiers trying to defend themselves from the energy price problem. SolarEnergyUK welcomed the consultation in a post-Budget note to its members but criticized Hunt for prioritizing  Carbon Capture & Storage over grid enhancements. Hunt’s refusal to spend money to modernize Britain’s transmission networks was also criticized.

The Chancellor’s endorsement of “full expensing” till 2026 was well-received by the lobbyists. Full expensing, which allows the cost of new equipment to be 100% written off against tax in just one year, was implemented in Britain in an effort to increase the country’s low company investment and low production productivity. 

The leader of SolarEnergyUK, Chris Hewett, mostly disregarded Hunt’s initiatives. The short-term opportunities, (the £63 million incentive for a solar-heated swimming pool) cannot make up for Hunt’s self-congratulation.

Hewett stated that the Budget was out of line with the dominant trends in the global energy revolution, where money is flowing into solar, wind, and energy storage.

Source: The Energyst