The solar industry is expecting to see a surge in sales following the launch today of the government’s long-anticipated feed in tariff incentive scheme.
Dubbed the Clean Energy Cashback or feed in tariff scheme, the new initiative modeled on Germany’s highly popular scheme will provide, households and communities guaranteed payments in return for the energy they generate onsite using renewable technologies such as pv solar panels.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change said that businesses and households that take advantage of feed in tariffs will secure numerous benefits in the form of guaranteed payments from their energy suppliers, reduced energy bills as a result of their using the energy generate onsite, and the opportunity to sell unused electricity onto the grid at a set export tariff rate of 3 pence/kWh.
According to government figures a typical well sited 2.5kW solar PV Installation could offer savings of £140 a year plus earnings of £900 a year, while all the technologies covered by the scheme have been awarded tariff rates designed to deliver return on investment rates of between five and eight per cent.
“The final feed in tariffs (FITs) are almost 15 per cent higher than had previously been proposed, and will also be inflation-linked,” said Serge Younes, sustainability services director at global environmental consultancy WSP Environment & Energy. “This is welcome news for the renewables industry.”
“The Feed-in Tariff will empower every household, farmstead and business in Britain to earn money by producing clean, green and renewable energy for their own needs and selling any surplus to the grid,” she said. “This is nothing short of a revolution in the way electricity is generated and sold, which will also stimulate the growth of the new UK renewables industry and the creation of local jobs, and drive widespread behavioural change toward energy use and generation. ”
“The tariff rates mean that, for the first time ever, it will be cost-effective to build solar panels on roofs across the whole of the UK,” said Younes, adding that commercial properties had a huge opportunity to generate revenue and curb their carbon emissions.
“The new feed in tariffs (FITs) mean that a typical 1,000 metre squared solar panel roof offers developers a chance to more than double their investment within the 25 year life expectancy of every panel,” he said. “As well as being able to lease commercial roof space to developers at an annual rate of £1.50 per metre squared, landlords could potentially protect themselves against the likely rise in energy prices by buying back the electricity at a preferential rate.”
According to leading solar panel specialist Stuart Lovatt from Heat my Home says, hundreds of households have already contacted the company to express their interest in the scheme with the firm experiencing a four fold increase in sales enquiries since the government finalised the tariffs in February.
Original Source: Green Business
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