Struggling solar firms look to public projects

GUILDFORD (Reuters) – John Fitzpatrick is in a buoyant niche of construction. Building subsidised homes for disadvantaged people, with solar panelled roofs for environmentally friendly power, he is funded by the government.

A scheme to halve the cost of installing solar panels on schools and social housing is aiding a solar power industry hit by the housing slump.
It’s tiny compared with U.S. President Barack Obama’s multi-billion-dollar plans to invest in cutting carbon emissions from government facilities. But as a slowdown threatens many renewable energy projects, such schemes offer hope for jobs.

“We were set up four years ago to do the predominantly social housing. We’re not seeing any tail-off,” said Fitzpatrick, site manager for the public housing arm of developers Croudace Homes.

New orders in the construction industry fell 14 per cent in the 12 months to November 2008, according to the Office for National Statistics. In the third quarter of 2008 orders for private homes fell by one-third, while those for public housing were steady.

Reuters