The UK's leading solar energy firm, SolarCentury, has today reported that the number of people employed by the company and its partner network has almost doubled over the past six months as the government's feed-in tariff incentive scheme begins to take effect.

The photovoltaic (PV) solar panel provider said that total staff numbers for SolarCentury and its network of 11 certified solar panel installers has risen from 200 at the start of the year to 350 today.

It added that most of the companies in its network are continuing to recruit and expect to increase their headcount by a further 50 per cent by the end of the year. The company is now predicting that there will be over 500 jobs in its network by early next year.

"These very encouraging job numbers show that the new feed-in tariff is already delivering rapid growth in new solar PV jobs in the UK," said Seb Berry, head of public affairs for SolarCentury. "The stability and certainty provided by the feed-in tariff means that UK PV companies can plan with confidence, invest for the future and take on many more staff as the market continues to grow in a sustained way."

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The U.K., known for rain and gray skies, enjoyed record installations of solar panels in July after the government guaranteed prices for electricity from

renewable energy up to 10 times market rates.

Photovoltaic panels with the capacity to generate 4.6 megawatts were fitted last month, the energy regulator Ofgem said on its website. That’s more than in all of 2009, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which forecasts the nation’s solar market will increase 12-fold this year.

The government on April 1 introduced feed-in tariffs that fix above-normal prices for electricity from small installations of wind, solar and hydro power. Companies from the German utility E.ON AG to Tesco Plc, the biggest U.K. supermarket, have entered the market. Sharp Corp. is doubling production at its solar cell factory in Wales, which is the biggest in Britain.

“The solar revolution is coming,” said Serge Younes of the industry consultant WSP Environment & Energy. “There are a lot of roofs in the south of the U.K. and a lot of land.”

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It goes without saying that roof space is often not a problem for farmers, but only recently in the UK have so many looked to them to produce clean

electricity. The introduction of the UK’s Feed-in tariff in April this year has proved an opportunity to investigate the potential of roof space to yield another income – as French farmers have been doing for years. The Feed-in tariff was introduced in France in 2008, spurring demand for solar photovoltaics (PV) across the country not least on farm buildings. Solarcentury has worked with many French farmers to help them make the best of the incentives and new technology.

Mr and Mrs Jean-Noël Simard are poultry farmers from Burgundy in France, who installed 470 solar panels on their barns in April 2010. They’re adamant going solar was the right thing to do: “Our solar roof, an ‘Energy Roof’, is an excellent way of diversifying revenue streams for farmers like us. The feed-in tariff makes solar a sound investment with which we can protect ourselves against rising electricity prices while saving many tonnes of C02 emissions too. Solar PV is simply now the best way to upgrade your farm.”

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