Czechs approve taxes on carbon permits, solar

The government aims to stem fast expansion in solar plants, which enjoy high price tariffs that power distributors must pay for solar power, with a 26 percent tax on solar power revenues.

A separate tax charging traditional electricity makers 32 percent of the value of carbon emissions permits granted to them for free in 2011 and 2012 is aimed to raise revenue to subsidize power prices raised by the rising proportion of solar power in the overall energy mix.