§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the total amounts of grant aid available in(a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02 for the installation of domestic solar water heating systems, together with (i) the name of each local project responsible for administering this budget, (ii) the targets set in these financial years for each local project and (iii) their budget allocation. [16632]
§ Mr. WilsonThere are no grants available for the installation of solar water heating systems from central Government at present, though professionally installed systems have benefited from a reduced rate (5 per cent.) of VAT since April 2000. Government do not maintain a register of the number of systems installed and neither does the trade association, though it is probably somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 systems a year.
There are various incentives and grants available from individual local authorities and organisations and from some utilities. Some useful examples can be found on the Energy Saving Trust website www.practicalhelp.org.uk or on the website of the trade association www.solartradeassociation.org.uk
§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the total amount of grant aid available in(a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02, for the installation of photovoltaic panels and roofing together with (i) the name of each local project responsible for administering the budget, (ii) the targets set in both of these financial years and (iii) their budget allocation. [16634]
§ Mr. WilsonThe Department has funded two rounds of the Domestic PV Systems Field Trial in 2000 and 2001, together supporting some 32 projects (over 500 homes) for the budget of £5.4 million. In addition, a Call for Proposals for the Large-Scale Building—Integrated PV Field Trial for Public Buildings is currently open. This should see around 15 projects on schools, hospitals etc. being supported for the budget of £3 million, and the results should be known by the end of February 2002.
The names of the nine project teams from the first round of the Domestic Field Trial will be included in a newsletter being prepared by the Building Research Establishment, and a copy will be sent to my hon. Friend and copies placed in the Libraries of the House. Summaries of the 23 successful projects from the second round are attached to the press release of 22 October on the DTI website, www.dti.gov.uk. No targets were set for these financial years.
1050WLooking to the future, the Department is currently working up the design for the first phase of the Major PV Demonstration Programme, announced in the Government's White Paper "Opportunity for All" on 13 February 2001. This has £20 million allocated over the next two financial years, and it is envisaged it will be open to applications from all types and sizes of building, with an average 50 per cent. capital grant on offer. There are no specific targets as yet, but it is expected that the first phase will result in up to 3,000 domestic roof-top systems and a couple of hundred larger non-domestic installations. Targets for subsequent phases will depend on the success of the first phase and the level of funding available.