“Greg Barker has been rude and unprofessional.” This was the assessment of the UK’s energy minister by John Moreton, chairman of MO3, a UK solar power company.

He and the industry were furious when Barker outlined his objections to large solar farms taking government subsidies, saying:

Speculators and hot money should find another home for their investments. We want to see an ambitious roll out of solar panels on Britain’s roof space but not all over the countryside.

In response, the solar industry is now gearing up for a fight against the government’s planned review of solar feed-in tariffs.

Organised* by the Renewable Energy Association, more than 20 companies have gathered together to take on the government. They aim to gather a warchest of £200,000 and use every method at their disposal – trade bodies, lawyers and PR people.