George Hobson & Malcolm Dowden report on solar vulnerability
The government’s appeal against the High Court’s pre-Christmas ruling regarding its flawed consultation on feed-in tariff (FiTs) reductions for solar installations leaves in doubt the rates available to property owners who failed to beat the 12 December 2011 deadline. However, even property owners who beat the deadline and retained the higher rates cannot entirely relax. As well as the risk of future policy reversals, solar installations remain vulnerable, given the current law on easements, to neighbouring development.
There is no right to receive unrestricted sunlight for conversion into renewable energy. Consequently, neighbouring development could obstruct the passage of sunlight to solar panels and reduce the energy produced by them. Lawyers attempting to protect solar installations may seek either new restrictive covenants or, in some cases, even leases of airspace over neighbouring sites. Either approach can be expensive, time-consuming and difficult to negotiate.
Rights of light?
The law on rights of light has its roots in the need for light
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