PV solar panels grants are available for UK householders, with £2,500, towards the cost for each home. Learn more >
Hot water solar panels grants are available for UK householders, with £400, towards the cost. Learn more >
 |
There is a DTI solar grant of 30% available for non-profit organisations under the Low Carbon Building Programme (Phase 2). This encompasses public sector buildings (including schools, hospitals, housing associations and local authorities) and charitable bodies.
There are no solar grants available for businesses but they can claim the Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECAs) which enable them to claim 100% first-year capital allowances on their solar panel expenditure. Businesses can write off the whole of the capital cost of their investment in solar technology against their taxable profits of the period during which they make the investment.
Other solar incentives
The latest UK solar panels grants news
Money spent on the next generation of nuclear stations
Gordon Brown confirms that the UK government will soon embrace a new generation of nuclear power stations. Mr Brown believes that renewing Britain's civil nuclear power programme is the most effective way of guaranteeing security of supply while tackling climate change, thus increasing solar grants, is very unlikely to occur.
Heat my Home believe that a mix of renewables for ruducing individuals households and thus the nations energy consumption is needed fast. No mention of reducing our energy consumption is ever mentioned, in the same sentence, when our politicians talk about climate change issues.
"My children will one day ask, what we did to address
global warming
I want to be able to say I did something"
Mrs Bouvier, Lancashire
The 2003 Energy White Paper put global warming at the heart of the Governments energy policy. We are looking to significantly expand the proportion of energy produced from renewable sources. Renewable energy is an integral part of our longer term aim of reducing emissions by 60% by 2050 to mitigate the impact of climate change by reducing our reliance on greenhouse gas emitting fossil fuels.
The Government intends to spend over £500 million between 2002 and 2008 to help develop emerging technologies, with a focus on Rand D and capital grants funding. This sum includes, among other things, grants of £117 million for offshore wind, over £60 million for energy crops and biomass, £31 million for Photovoltaic's and £12 million for domestic schemes and £80 million on a new Low Carbon Buildings programme.
The Government is keen to exploit the potential of solar PV and solar thermal water heating systems, making them become reasonably practical and economic for most cases. We are also monitoring developments and encouraging industry and consumer take up with grants schemes and changing the building regulations to enable the benefits of low carbon and zero carbon technologies to be more readily taken into account.
I mentioned above the £31 million spent on PV Photovoltaic's solar; This was the four year Major Photovoltaic's Demonstration Programme, under which homeowners and businesses claimed a contribution towards the installation costs of PV panels. It aimed to raise awareness and to encourage homeowners and others to take an active part in the climate change agenda and while reaping the benefits of renewable energy. Building on its success, we launched a new Low Carbon Building Programme at the beginning of April. The programme had a £30 million budget over 3 years, but this was increased to £80 million in March 2006's budget statement.
The Carbon Buildings programme was designed following a review of the UK's potential renewable energy resources which recommended that we continue to support for the installation of photovoltaic's and other small scale renewable's through a low carbon building approach. It is designed to encourage homeowners, businesses, architects and developers to adopt an holistic approach to energy consumption in buildings and will focus on energy efficiency measures as well as renewable technology installations. This approach marks a significant change to current grant programmes.
I hope this letter helps to reassure you that the Government takes this matter very seriously, and has put in place a range of measures to ensure that the UK becomes a low carbon economy.
Why solar grants
The Government's Solar Photovoltaic's (PV) Major Demonstration Programme - which is administered on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) by the Energy Saving Trust - is to officially end in March 2006, with the final round of funding for stream 2 (commercial) grants in February 2006.
As demand for grants has been so high, the DTI has announced a further £750,000 to support the programme through to completion. The scheme provides funding of between 40 and 50 per cent for the installation of solar electricity panels for both domestic (stream 1) and commercial (stream 2) applications. The aim of the programme has been to kick start the UK market for solar PV, by demonstrating the long-term potential of the technology and thereby encourage the use of more environmentally friendly and sustainable methods of generating electricity.
Since 2002, the programme has provided £26 million of funding for 1,200 domestic and 180 commercial solar installations. As a result, it is estimated that 20,000 tonnes of carbon will be saved over the lifetime of the installations, thereby making an important contribution towards reaching the UK's climate change targets as well as the Government's target of 10 percent of energy generated to be from renewable sources by 2010.
Latest UK Solar Grants News
Grants to help climate-conscious householders to install microgeneration
technologies will be up for grabs again later this month, Alistair Darling
announced today.
The Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP) has already allocated £6.8m
in grants to householders and, following the addition an extra £6m
in the Budget, applications for the remaining £11.9m will be open from
29 May.
Since it launched in April 2006 the LCBP has directly funded 2175 installations
on homes. This includes 242 mini-turbines, 313 Solar PV projects and 1467
solar thermal heating systems.
Mr Darling said:
“Micro-wind turbines and solar
panels are fast becoming the credible response of householders to cutting
their carbon emissions as well as their utility bills.
“The microgeneration industry has tremendous potential in the low carbon
economy. Products are already available on the high street and are starting
to become recognisable on our skylines. This grant scheme is designed to
maximise carbon savings, demonstrate potential and help the sector become
more commercially competitive in the long term.
“It is part of a wider government programme worth £86m that will
also award grants for larger scale installations on schools and other public
buildings.”
The grant scheme was put on hold in March while the application process was
streamlined to make sure it benefits the sector in the long term.
Key changes to the application criteria include the removal of the monthly
cap and a new requirement to have planning permission before applying.
The Government is currently consulting on removing the need for planning
permission for the majority of microgeneration installations but it must
be in place for LCBP grant applicants in the meantime.
The changes are designed to overcome delays in the take-up of grants. Only
half of the £6.8m already allocated by March had been spent because
of supply chain issues, planning consents not in place, delays in building
schedules and applicants not ready to proceed. The DTI will continue to monitor
these areas.
Grants for solar water heating systems
The Clear Skies (Low Carbon Building Programme) gives homeowners in England and Wales the opportunity to obtain a £400 grant towards a cost of a solar water heating system (including systems to heat swimming pools). In Scotland (www.est.org.uk/schri/)the grant rate is 30% of the system price.
Local authorities, housing associations, charities and “not for profit” organisations can apply for grants of 50% of solar water heating project costs under the Clear Skies programme.
Household Grant Offered
£400 regardless of system size
PV solar panels grants The Department of Trade and Industry has established a £20 million PV (Electric generating Solar Panels) grants programme which is managed by the (www.est.org.uk/housing buildings/funding)
Energy Saving Trust.
Household Grant offered
£2,500, per each
household maximum
Solar Grants Applications Requirements
1. No faxed, photocopied or emailed applications will be accepted - and original signatures only.
2. Funds are limited and all funding is therefore allocated on a first come first served basis.
3. Incomplete applications will not be processed and there will be no opportunity to resubmit applications after the deadline.
4. Applicants must confirm that the installation will be completed within the six months of receiving a grant offer. Grant offers are time limited and applications that schedule work beyond the six month life time of a grant offer can not be approved.
5. Please be aware we expect to receive a higher than average volume of applications and the processing of these will cause delays to approvals. It is therefore very important to note that grants are not paid retrospectively. If work is started prior to receipt of a formal grant offer letter, the grant offer is invalidated and no grant monies will be paid.
6. All work must be completed by an accredited installer. No installer can undertake any work prior to receiving written confirmation of their accredited status. Any installations completed by non-accredited installers will not be eligible for a grant.
7. Installers and applicants are requested to not telephone to check if applications have been received / processed / offered as this will simply cause more delays to the processing of the applications.
