Solar companies demand £2.2m in damages after feed in tariff cuts

Three solar pv instalation companies have written to the government demanding £2.2m in damages which they say were caused by cuts in 2011 to the feed in tariff scheme for solar pv, which resulted in a legal challenge that the government lost.

Last October, ahead of schedule, the coalition cut in half payments for the feed in tariff scheme which pays generators of small-scale energy such as solar pv systems. The cut led to a near 90% drop in installations.

The companies, who have sent a "letter before claim" to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, say the government should pay because they claim its action "caused major financial losses and materially harmed the confidence of both consumers and the industry".

The letter does not mark a formal legal move and the companies, Solarlec PV Solutions and two others who did not want to be named, have given Decc two weeks to respond.