Clean energy cashback scheme

Solar PV electric panels give you income and savings in 3 ways:

• Feed In Tariff Income
• Electricity Bill Savings
• Export Electricity Income

In April 2010 the Government introduced a Feed-In Tariff (FIT) to encourage the uptake of small to medium scale renewable electricity generation. The scheme is designed to ensure that households or businesses should achieve a 5-8% annual rate of return, guaranteed for 25 years, when investing in well located solar electric panels. This means that you should get your initial money back within 10-12 years.

Payments will be made for every unit of electricity that you generate, regardless of whether you use the electricity. The current rates* are:

* Please note that, these rates are currently under consultation by the Government. Originally this consultation planned to introduce these rates from 12th December 2011 but this has been challenged in court. The court over-ruled the government which MAY mean that until April 1st, the FIT rate for systems up to 4kW will remain at the previous 43.3p. However, we are basing our calculations on the worst case assumption for now until there is more news from the government.

Currently most FIT suppliers assume that 50% of the electricity generated will be exported and pay an additional 3.1p per unit for this. This saves them having to supply and fit an export meter.

Since some of your electricity will now come free from your solar panels, you will no longer need to buy as much electricity from your normal supplier during the day, saving an average of 13p per unit.

Our online estimator will give you an indication of the costs and savings. For a more accurate assessment of your property, please contact us for a free survey.

* Feed In Tariff payments are only exempt from income tax for domestic users with panels on the property that they are living in.