Solarcentury has resigned from the British Photovoltaic Association (BPVA) over its stance on Feed-in tariffs.
Solarcentury claims the BPVA chairman attempted to intervene on the side of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in the Appeal Court, 'an intervention which he failed to discuss first with Solarcentury'.
Derry Newman, CEO, Solarcentury said: 'We cannot understand how a trade body claiming to represent the best interests of the UK PV industry could have arrived at such a position, nor why the BPVA is supporting the right of the department to make retrospective changes to the feed-in tariff at any time, thus jeopardising all future investor interest in PV and other FIT technologies.
'Of all trade bodies in this sector, the BPVA alone has allowed itself to be used in a classic Government 'divide and rule' manoeuvre. By contrast, other trade bodies including the Solar Trade Association and Renewable Energy Association have recognised what is at stake in this case and in particular, the disastrous long-term implications of DECC getting their way.'
Speaking in May last year, BPVA chairman Reza Shaybani said it was significant that Solarcentury was joining his Association: 'Solarcentury's membership is particularly significant as the company is widely respected throughout the industry for providing lobbying leadership over many years and for being instrumental in persuading the previous Government to deliver an effective feed-in tariff policy for PV.'
