Here would be my prefered approach:

Forget MCS approveal and costly certification. Forget FIT, broken promises etc.

PV electronics installed to Part P safe electrical standards (by ordinary sparky). On roof by someone with head for heights and to building regs for quality (so stay on in wind, not break roof, not leak rain etc.)

Meter that can run both ways. Standard cost per unit. If my meter reading is ahead of the last one then I pay the supplier. If my reading is less e.g. I have generated and exported more than I used, then the supplier pays me. Oh and a fixed fee goes to the DNO for maintaining a network.

Simple, fair, easy to implement. What do you think?

Yep, that's basically the US net-metering scheme and quite sensible. I'd even be happy with a slightly smarter meter that counted imports and exports separately and paid a slightly lower rate for exports than you pay for imports.

Posted By: tedNet metering could only work if people were prepared to pay a standing charge of about £2/day in order to meet suppliers, DNO and National Grid fixed costs and profit margins.

MCS is unlikely to go away even with no FiTs, but exactly how that is going to work remains to be seen. MCS are in the process of setting themselves up in a structure pretty much identical to Gas Safe, so it may become compulsory to use an MCS installer for all renewable electricity systems with DIY outlawed as it is for gas, although I personally cannot see that working very well.

£2/day standing charge would be more than the entirety of the average electricity bill. It's the equivalent of more than 5500 kWh/year at 13p/kWh.

What would be a fair, unsubsidised price for domestic Pv electricity fed into the grid? Would it be the same as for electricity from utility scale generation or more because it will mostly be used nearby and not need transforming for long distance transmission?

Ed

You have to be competent in order to sign up to the Gas Safe register. Gas competency is proved through the ACS (approved competency scheme) qualification that ALL would be Gas Safe registered engineers must obtain first - individuals are practically & written assessed to demonstrate safe working practices; this qualification then lasts for 5 years. Once someone has passed the core gas assessment they are deemed "competent" regardless of whether they sign up to the Gas Safe register however, it is illegal to work on any gas installation or appliance unless you are Gas safe registered.

Posted By: Ed Davies

Posted By: billtI sincerely hope not, yet another pointless, costly bureaucracy.

Indeed. Can't quite put my finger on the right expression to describe it - something a bit like a protection racket but not quite.

closed shop

1. I don't think the 87% cut in FIT is a done deal. There is furious opposition from the industry and they are hoping the government will reconsider.

2. Next month Piclo is launching an online market for renewable electricity which, as far as I can see, is a sort of AirBnB for microgenerators and consumers. To sell electricity through Piclo you must provide half-hourly export metering. http://piclo.uk/