FiT reductions clobber community solar projects

Governments seem very good at keeping promises where reductions are concerned and so, as we'd been promised, the review of large scale renewables tariff payments was announced last week.

It should be stressed that homeowners, installing a typical solar array on their home will be unaffected by the latest changes.

So what's been affected? Basically, any photovoltaic solar installation of over 50kw will be on a new reduced tariff from the beginning of August:

Photovoltaic solar installations between 50kw and 150kw of capacity will get 19p per kilowatt produced - that's down from 32.9p per kilowatt.

Larger installations (up to 250kw) will get just 15p per kilowatt produced and installations of between 250kw and 5mw capacity will get just 8.5p per kw. That's down from 30.7p paid previously.

Whilst Ministers have said they're acting to preserve the 'pot of money' used to make tariff payments to homeowners and so encourage the domestic take up of renewable energy, their opponents reckon that reducing tariffs on large scale projects including many community projects, will affect more people in the long run, reducing the number of people making us of renewable energy.

Opponents to the cuts, coming only a year after the tariffs were introduced, claim that more damage will be done to the fledgling economy of renewables - production and installation, whilst sending out a confusing message to homeowners - the very people the cuts have been designed to protect - about the potential for future cuts to 'domestic' tariff rates.

The last year has seen over 30,000 solar installations, compared with just a few hundred in the previous year.

photo credit: angus fraser

Don't waste another sunny day

The saying "make hay whilst the sun shines' couldn't be more appropriate.

Whilst you're enjoying a sunny warm day out in the countryside, chugging along on a canal boat or even having a day at the seaside, your home could be generating oodles of cheap electricity - electricity you could be being paid for.

So how nice to have your day out funded by those solar panels you installed?

Get your FREE online solar panel quote now - either for Photovoltaic (electricity generating) or Hot Water by using Solar Panel Quoter - click here.

It only takes a few minutes but the results could pay for your summer outings - literally.

photo credit: tristan bowersox

Domestic Solar Panels - Renewable energy for the home

Generating energy - both electrical and hot water from domestic solar panels has suddenly become a lot more interesting with the recent start of Feed-in Tariffs for renewable electrical power generation.

Hot water and heat generation will have to wait until next April (2011) for the renewable heat incentives to begin.

The introduction of feed-in tariffs means that domestic installations could re-coup their investment faster - the pay back period as it is referred to, is shorter making the investment in domestic solar panels a lot more attractive for the homeowner.

There are also grants and schemes available that may part-cover installation costs so it's always worth checking with your local authority and your local solar panel companies about what's available and what the claim process is.

You can read more on the feed-in tariffs in a previous post by clicking here.

photo credit: jessica higgins