Feed in tariff
Feed in tariff earns you an income from any extra energy that you produce
Feed-In Tariffs (FITs) also known as the Clean Energy Cash Back scheme, have become available as of 1st April 2010.
Homeowners, businesses and communities alike who generate their own electricity from renewable energy sources such as Solar PV panels will receive regular payments from their energy suppliers. All electricity generated by the system is guaranteed under the scheme for a period of 25 years.
A typical Solar PV installation of 2 kWp would cost in the region of £10,000 for a domestic household. Savings of circa £835 per annum would be made representing an 8.35% return Tax Free and index linked.
(11% Gross for basic rate tax payers and 13.8% for higher rate tax payers).
There is a legal obligation on utility companies to buy electricity from renewable sources at premium rate. This makes the installation of systems such as Solar PV a secure and financially sound investment for the end user.
Due to the introduction of this Government backed scheme the return on investment for such systems has been substantially increased and pay back times reduced, The FIT system means that the pay-back time for PV is no longer several decades, but several years instead notwithstanding the huge benefit to the environment.
Table of Feed-In Tariff levels
| System Size | Up to 31st Mar 2011 |
From 1st Apr 2011 - 31st Mar 2012 |
|
| Solar PV | Under 4 kW (new property) | 36.1 | 37.8 |
| Solar PV | Under 4 kW (retrofit) | 41.3 | 43.3 |
| Solar PV | 4kW or above and under 10kW | 36.1 | 37.8 |
| Solar PV | 10kW or above and under 100kW | 31.4 | 32.9 |
| Solar PV | 100kW or above and up to 5MW | 29.3 | 30.7 |
| Solar PV | ** Standalone | 29.3 | 30.7 |
* Prices shown are in pence per kilowatt hour (p/kWh).
** Standalone systems only feed electricity back into the grid.
Notes:
Post installation the system will be registered with your current energy supplier, the tariff is guaranteed for a period of 25 years and index linked.
What is the export tariff?
For every kilowatt-hour (kWh) that is produced by your system but is not used is exported to the electricity grid. The energy supplier then makes a payment for this electricity.
3p/kWhr is the minimum price that has been set in the legislation. This payment is also index linked and is in addition to the main generation tariff..
Unlike the generation tariff the rate does not alter depending on the size of system.
Under this scheme energy suppliers make regular payments to householders, businesses and communities who generate their own electricity from renewable or low carbon sources such as Solar PV panels.
The scheme guarantees a minimum payment for ALL electricity generated by the system for 25 years as well as a separate payment for the electricity exported to grid. These payments are in addition to the bill savings made by using the electricity generated on-site.
As an example, a typical domestic solar electricity system with an installation size of 2 kWp (10 panels) would cost £10,000
Typical savings of £835 per year would be made on an average family home in the UK. This represents an 8.35% return index linked and Tax Free.
(11% Gross for basic rate tax payers and 13.8% for higher rate tax payers).
For more information on the Feed-In Tariff visit
www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy Let us call you
