THE government has no plans to provide grants or financial support to homeowners looking to install solar panels.
Grants are available in the UK for homeowners who meet specific eligibility criteria, but the Environment Department has confirmed Jersey will not be adopting similar schemes as part of the Island’s journey to net zero.
The department said this was due to the Island’s low-carbon electricity supply, which comes from France, and because the focus remains on reducing emissions from transport and heating, which are the Island’s largest sources of greenhouse gases.
The department is currently offering incentives for electric vehicles, chargers, low carbon heating and home energy audits as part of the government’s Carbon Neutral Roadmap.
However, Environment Minister Steve Luce has delayed the proposed ban on replacing fossil-fuel boilers and the requirement for homes to have energy performance certificates at the point of sale earlier this year.
Deputy Luce also ended a £300,000 e-bike grant scheme due to low uptake, instead re-allocating the remaining £100,000 to support businesses in purchasing electric vans.
Meanwhile, former Environment Minister Jonathan Renouf told the JEP there were challenges in justifying government grants for solar panels.
He explained: “Using government grants to encourage rooftop solar would have to be balanced against other carbon neutral roadmap priorities.
“Given that our electricity supply is mostly decarbonised, subsidising rooftop solar – which is only very weakly correlated with decarbonisation – there are higher priorities for the Climate Emergency Fund — in particular, decarbonising home heating and transport.”
Deputy Hilary Jeune, a former Assistant Environment Minister and chair of the Environment Scrutiny panel, spoke about the need for a “comprehensive energy strategy” before the government considers solar panel grants.
She said that issues such as restrictions on using solar for electrical heating, the need for improved insulation and the importance of reducing overall energy consumption would need to be addressed first.
She explained: “The Climate Emergency Fund’s main objective is to be used to decarbonise Jersey. As we already get ‘green’ electricity’ from France, providing subsidies for solar panels would not met this objective.
“Therefore, the discussion on grants for solar panels needs to sit within a wider energy discussion, which is also about security and affordability.”
