Solar Feed in Tariffs - the 'Clean Energy Cashback' scheme

What is a feed in tariff?

A feed in tariff is a fairly simple subsidy mechanism. For every kWh of electricity you generate from solar panels installed on your roof, the government will pay you a fixed sum of money. It doesn't matter if you use the electricity in the home yourself, or sell it to the national grid - although where you do sell it you will also get some income from the sale of the electricity itself.

I have heard that the tariff has been reduced or cut altogether - Is this true?

You may have heard that after a high court ruling, the cuts made to the Feed-in-tariff rates for installations after the 12th December 2011 were judged illegal.

After an initial failed appeal, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) are now making an appeal to the Supreme Court on this decision, which unfortunately we may not know the outcome of for as long as 8 or 9 months.

So what does this mean for you? Whilst we are still waiting to see the formal judgement, the general outcome of this is that you will be guaranteed the 21p rate if you get your installation soon with a good chance for it to be doubled, so if you are thinking about getting Solar PV, you would be wise to book your installation soon.

And fear not! With the price of panels falling and the increase of panel efficiency, even with the reduced rate of 21p/kWh proposed by the government, you could still get a good return.

Will it pay for the cost of installing the panels?

Almost certainly - although how long it will take to pay back will depend on a large number of factors, such as shading and orientation of the array, the rate of the feed-in-tariff and the installation cost - which can vary significantly depending on your house. However, a well designed system using off-the-shelf components can often pay for itself in 10-15 years.

Does it work elsewhere?

Yes. Germany has around 200 times the installed capacity of solar panels that the UK has - an expansion driven entirely by the feed-in tariff the German government brought in.

I'm interested. What should I do?

Get in touch! We can give you a good indication of how much a system is likely to cost and what your payback period is likely to be.