Octopus chief executive Simon Rogerson (pictured) has welcomed the UK Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold the ruling that the DECC’s changes to the subsidy for solar installations, is unlawful.

“This is good news for the solar industry,” says Rogerson. “It means that solar installations built after the 12 December deadline imposed by DECC will collect the higher Feed-in Tariff rate, although the 3 March deadline still remains in place. For many solar companies, this three month grace period will be a lifeline.

“But from the perspective of Octopus and our investors, the ruling makes little difference. When DECC made its announcement we responded by lowering our VCT annual charges and capping our running costs. We worked hard to ensure that VCT investors wouldn’t lose out, regardless of the outcome of any appeal.

“Thanks to our track record in developing solar, and our relationship with Lightsource Renewable Energy, Octopus was one of the few investment companies with the economies of scale required to renegotiate terms with solar panel manufacturers and installers. As a result, Octopus was able to keep its Octopus VCT 3&4 open and launch a new tranche of Octopus EIS when other companies were forced to close theirs and refund inflows back to investors.

“Octopus VCT 3&4 remains open for new investment and will close at the end of this tax year. Our latest tranche of Octopus EIS is filling up rapidly so tax planners and investors who want to realise the investment potential of solar don’t have much time left before the opportunity will be gone altogether.”