Letter: Glimmer of hope

The Institute of Science in Society (Isis) announcement that it has raised £2 million for a large number of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations in the Borders (your report, 22 June) is welcome news and an indication of how this form of renewable energy technology could be deployed successfully in Scotland.

Plans for large-scale Scottish solar PV farms may well be in jeopardy following proposed changes to the Feed-In Tariff scheme announced by Westminster.

Despite a consultation exercise that saw more people objecting to the government's plans than showed their support, the government's position is that the need for fiscal responsibility outweighs the difficulties that restrictions to the FIT scheme could bring.

For the Scottish Government, which aims to generate 100 per cent of Scotland's energy needs through renewable sources by 2020, this could have been seen as an unwanted obstacle.

A number of solar PV installations had been planned for construction in Scotland, and the combination of the reduced tariffs and the shortened time available for implementation of these projects as proposed by the changes is likely to make large-scale solar PV a less attractive proposition for the Scottish renewable energy industry.

But maybe where Isis goes, others will follow.

A project involving multiple small installations such as the one planned for the Borders may indeed be viable where purpose-built solar PV farms are less so.

Alistair Kennedy

Tods Murray LLP

Fountainbridge

Edinburgh