BOSSES have put a solar scheme for Hampshire County Council buildings on hold, blaming cuts in government subsidies.

Last month the county council backed spending £3.5m to install photovoltaic panels on 60 buildings to take advantage of generous payments which allows extra energy to be sold back to the national grid.

But ministers have brought forward a deadline from next April to next month to halve these payments, known as feed-in-tariffs, which means the business case now stacks up differently.

In a statement council leader Ken Thornber said: “The earlier than expected reduction in the rate of the government’s feed-in-tariff incentive payments for those installing PV panels will now impact on our business case and the rate of return for our first phase investment of up to £3.5m and some 7,500 sq metres of panels. We are therefore reviewing our business case. Until this is completed we are not in a position to determine how we will progress this initiative.”

In June officers said the scheme to harness the sun’s energy would cut electricity bills, pay for itself in 15 years and reduce the local authority’s carbon footprint.

Councillor Keith House, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition group on the council, said: “This was an exciting project that if the county council had got on with rather than dithered and delayed, would now be up and running using renewable energy instead of fossil fuels and making money for Hampshire. The county council needs to change its culture to get on with projects and not miss out in future.”

Alison Craig, of Winchester Green Party, said: “It (solar power) is something we would not want to see dropped in Hampshire. The pioneering council, Brighton, is still continuing despite the drop in feed-in-tariff because they see it is still worthwhile even though it is less financially rewarding.”