Solar Feed In Tariff Website

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the UK solar photovoltaic industry, the fact remains that with the feed-in tariff in place in any form, there will continue to be a market for investors. The coalition government has announced that they will be changing the feed-in tariff to focus on smaller scale, roof-mounted solar installations to the detriment of large scale solar farms.

However, for those installing solar pv panels, there are still very healthy returns to be had from the payments which come from the feed-in tariff scheme something which Eco Environments believe is the main catalyst behind the growth of the industry in the UK.

There is a very evident media focus on climate change and the resulting political rhetoric which follows and also, a growing culture of awareness in green energy, recycling and the need to dramatically reduce carbon emissions on a domestic level. David Hunt of Eco Environments believes however that the growing interest in installing household, roof-mounted solar panels comes not from a desire to be environmentally friendly but from the commercial advantages which come as part of the feed-in tariff.

Hunt believes that,

“Most people are looking at it now domestically because they are going to get two or three per cent on an ISA or out of the bank account, but with the solar they can get 15 per cent”.

At a time where it is very hard to find savings accounts offering attractive interest rates and there is a worldwide lack of confidence in traditional investment opportunities in the stock market, it is perhaps unsurprising that the great majority of people look to install solar panels for purely financial reasons. After all, while it is the government’s business to meet carbon reduction targets and appear to be environmentally friendly, it is the homeowners business to dramatically reduce their utility bill while hopefully creating a very steady revenue stream on the side

Tags: Eco Environments, roof mounted solar panels, solar energy, Solar Feed In Tariff, solar investments, solar PV

Recent changes announced to the feed-in tariff were designed to encourage investment in smaller scale, household solar panel projects away from larger scale solar farms which were hoping to tap into the tariff mechanism on an industrial level. While commendable in theory, the reality is that householders and small scale investors simply can’t afford the steep upfront costs in installing solar equipment. While it is of course possible to generate long term revenue from solar projects by tapping into the solar feed-in tariff, photovoltaic solar installation can cost as much as £15,000, capital which most would find hard to raise. This is where critics believe that banks in refusing to lend to small businesses are crippling the solar industry in its infancy.

Already in the UK there have been over 31,000 solar installations amounting to 86MW with 81MW of these being domestic, roof mounted projects. For this reason, you would imagine that the solar industry in the UK has already shown potential lenders that there are returns to be made through investing in photovoltaic equipment especially when twinned with a government protected tariff mechanism like the one introduced last April. Lee Summers of Alumet Renewable Technology stated that,

“It would not be difficult for Government to instruct the state-subsidized banks to recognise its own feed-in-tariff scheme as suitable collateral.”

However, despite the clear evidence from abroad that there are indeed healthy yields to be taken from solar pv, the reluctance of the banks to lend is prohibiting a huge number of people to install solar panels. Summers went onto add that,

“For most homeowners they are unable to benefit from the 8 to 10% that the FiT guarantees to domestic generators because they don’t have the £12,000 or £15,000 they need to install the photovoltaic panels in the first place. Banks do not regard the Government’s 25 year index-linked, commitment as collateral for a loan. It is totally unfair that only the most ‘well-off’ individuals in a community can benefit from solar technology. The feed-in-tariffs are paid for by levies on every energy bill and so every home owner should have the opportunity to access the FiT.”

Tags: Lee Summers, roof mounted solar panels, Solar Feed In Tariff, solar industry, solar investment, solar panels, solar PV, UK feed-in-tariff