§ Mr. PickthallTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assistance the Government give to(a) householders and (b) businesses towards the installation of solar energy devices. [150266]
§ Mr. Hain[holding answer 14 February 2001]: The White Paper on enterprise, skills and innovation, published on 13 February, includes a major initiative for a solar photovoltaic (PV) demonstration programme to bring us in line with those of our main competitors. The aim is to support the installation of PV arrays on the roofs and walls of domestic homes and medium and large-scale non-domestic buildings. This should enable the establishment of a high-tech industry of the future in the UK with the potential to challenge our main competitors in this field, Japan, Germany, and the US.
The new proposal complements current Government support for field trials for domestic and large-scale building-integrated PV systems. In addition, since April 2000, a reduction of VAT from 17.5 per cent. to 5 per cent. has been available for professionally installed solar panels.