§ Mr. BestTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps her Department will take(a) to encourage further investment in the UK solar PV manufacturing industry and (b) to safeguard jobs in this sector when the first phase of the solar PV major demonstration programme ends. [188225]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienThe DTI has this week announced a further £6 million of funding to extend the Major Photovoltaics Demonstration Programme (PV MDP) 1859W until March 2006; this brings the total funding allocated to this Programme to £31 million. In addition the Department has committed a total of £10 million to the large scale and domestic field trills. The DTI also supports Solar PV through its Technology Support Programme and through the Research Councils. This demonstrates the Governments intention to continue to support this industry and should encourage industry to continue to invest as well.
A low carbon buildings programme, as recommended by the DTI/Carbon Trust Renewables Innovation Review, is expected to supersede these two programmes and help safeguard jobs in this sector. We continue to work closely with the Regional Development Agencies on investment by indigenous employers and on attracting inward investment. The Department particularly welcomes the announcements earlier this year on investment in solar manufacturing capability by Sharp and Romag.