Red tape cut means plants can help power themselves26 March 2015

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles has announced that the permitted development threshold for rooftop solar panels on commercial property is to be increased from 50kW to 1MW.

"[This] will make it much easier for factories, farms, hospitals, bus stations and other commercial buildings to generate their own sustainable electricity – while also saving themselves money and resources," comments Renewable Energy Association chief executive Dr Nina Skorupska.

"Solar installed on commercial buildings has the potential to generate significant amounts of clean electricity, yet it is a considerably underdeveloped area, [because] the rigidity of the planning system has been a major barrier," she continues.

"[Extending] the threshold before a full planning application is required for a solar installation is a simple but effective step that will lift the shackles from the sector, and will help developers avoid uncertainty in terms of degression of feed-in tariff rates."

Brian Tinham

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