Buy Solar
With the Feed in Tariff subsidy, home solar can provide a regular tax free income, provide a little protection from electricity price rises and, of course, help to protect our environment.
- You are paid for every unit of electricity produced by your solar PV system generates (regardless of how much you use). This is called the 'generation tariff'.
- You can use free of charge as much as you like of the electricity produced by the PV system.
- You are paid for any electricity your system has produced and that you don’t use and is fed to the national grid. This is called the 'export tariff'.
The government has proposed to change the generation tariff from 12th December to 21p per kWh; the export tariff will remain at 3p per kWh. The consultation on this new tariff - along with energy efficiency requirements that would kick in from April - ran until 23rd December and the announcement of the new tariff is expected some time late January.
Government has maintained (thus far) its intention that FITs should provide a 4%-5% return, which is competitive with other savings products. The actual return, of course, depends on where you are in the country and the exact nature of your roof. Your FIT income will be higher if you are Cornwall, for example, with a large 35 degree pitched south facing roof and no shading.
So if you have a good solar roof, between £5,000 and £15,000 to invest, it could be a good idea to look at purchasing a solar system for your home. If your time horizons are shorter or your money is tied up, SolarShare™may be a better option for you.
We aren’t financial advisors, but it’s helpful to run through an example of how the payments could work at the current level of 43.3p – and if you’re interested, give us a call or email us so that we can help you further.
