Since 1997, Germany has installed 300,000 home energy kits.  In the UK we've managed 10,000.

By Donnacadh McCarthy

When in 1997 my home became the first in London to export solar electricity to the national grid, my dream was that millions of others would quickly follow. Accountancy firm KPMG had produced a report stating that solar electricity was technologically competitive with oil, but needed a mass market to be economically competitive. Since then, Germany has installed over 300,000 home renewable energy systems. But the UK has barely managed 10,000. The result: installation costs in Germany are now half those in the UK.

In his last budget, Gordon Brown announced a 50% increase in the money available for homeowners installing renewable energy systems. It was heavily trailed in pre-Budget briefings, with front-page headlines about how he was helping homeowners go green.

So what happened? Extraordinarily, the day after the Budget, the scheme was suspended for six weeks. When relaunched, it had two crucial changes: homeowners now had to get planning permission prior to applying for a grant, and the maximum grant was slashed by 83 per cent, from £15,000 to £2,500.

A year on from Brown's announcement, I asked the Government about the result of that Budget pledge. The facts were shocking.

Applications had fallen by 60% on the previous year, from 5,800 to 2,300. Furthermore, the Government indicated this would be the last year of even this tiny scheme. So, if you are planning on installing a system, you need to get a move on. Brown seems determined to take the hatchet even to the few remaining crumbs. Application forms and further information are online at www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk.

What can be done? The main reason for Germany's success is that homeowners are paid a premium for the electricity they produce. The jargon for this is the 'feed-in tariff'. This reduces the pay-back period from over 60 years to under 20, making it economically as well as environmentally worthwhile for homeowners to invest.

Hugo House from Good-energy.co.uk, a leading supplier of green electricity, says, 'The Government, by capping micro-generation grants, smothered a blossoming industry. Good Energy believes that feed-in tariffs need to be based on payment on total generation, not just what is exported to the grid. The best value is obtained by using the energy on site.'

The Tories are taking the issue seriously. Their spokesperson on climate change, Greg Barker MP, says they support a premium feed-in tariff.  The price could be set at a rate that would enable the homeowner to do a deal with a green electricity supply company, to pay for the capital installation costs, and the income would then go directly to them for the pay-back period. The homeowner could end up owning the system at the end of, say, 10 years, without paying any up-front costs. Barker says the scheme could be funded from government sales of carbon credits. This would unlock the door to millions of domestic renewable energy installations in Britain.

So go on Gordon, make the climate happy – and pinch the Tories' idea.

Donnachadh McCarthy works as an eco-auditor and is the author of 'Easy Eco-auditing': www.3acorns.co.uk