How much does the solar energy industry rely on incentives and tariffs?

The money for endless feed in tariff applications and grants towards installing solar energy has to come from somewhere and it's fairly safe to assume that there isn't some magic money pot that fills itself every night.

The problem is that to many solar installation companies, the government incentives to homeowners to install solar energy on their properties is the life-blood of their businesses. If tariffs get cut or incentives reduced, there's an immediate knock-on effect.

Take this story from earlier this April as reported in The Arizona Republic.

It concerns the introduction of smaller rebates for homeowners, many of whom felt they had beat the deadline before the new lower rates were introduced.

There has been such a reaction that the Arizona Public Service Co allowed approx' 230 applications to go through at the old rebates.

However, read further and it becomes clear that the demand on the old rebates would have seen the funds set aside running out well before the scheme's deadlines.

Of course, this story is from one of America's sunnier states but it does highlight the urgency in taking advantage of any solar rebates or tariffs at the earliest opportunity, lest they are withdrawn or cut at a later date due to demand.

If you're thinking of installing solar panels on your property and making use of the Governments feed-in tariffs which started this April, then the first step is to get an online quote to see how much an installation will cost (click here), before going on to read feedback from other homeowners who've used solar panel installation companies near where you live.

photo credit: wolfgang staudt

Installing renewable energy - there may be grants available

Thinking about getting solar energy in your home? There may be grants available....

"If you are considering installing solar energy or any other type of renewable energy in your home, you may be eligible for a government grant. Grants are not means tested and qualifying is straight forward.

Across the UK, the DTI's low carbon buildings programme provides grants for householders on microgeneration technologies including solar photovoltaics, solar thermal hot water, wind turbines, small scale hydro, heat pumps and bio-energy.

In Scotland, the Scottish Community Householder Renewables Initiative (SCHRI ) provides grants for householders funded by the Scottish Executive and managed by the Energy Saving Trust. Grants are available for solar, water and space heating, small-scale wind and hydro systems, ground source heat pumps and biomass. Funding for householders is set at 30% of the installed cost up to £4,000."

... taken from Energy saving advice

Part of that process is getting quotations to submit with your grant application, showing how much the installation is going to cost. You can get access to these installation companies across the UK by getting an instant online quote for your solar panel installation, whether that's hot water systems or photovoltaic (electricity generating) systems.