If you are interested in solar power for your home you will also certainly be interested in the solar feed-in tariffs now available for small domestic or community renewable energy installations. Solar feed-in tariffs mean that you are able to earn money from the energy you generate on top of the savings made in terms of replacing your existing fuel and the carbon savings which come with that.
Solar feed-in tariffs work on the basis of paying the small-scale energy generator for each kilowatt hour of electricity generated regardless of whether this has actually been used in the home. For solar power the maximum generation tariff (for installations until the 3rd March 2012 sized at 4kw or less) is 43.3p/kWh for retro-fit installations and 37.8p/kWh for new build situations. These prices are set for 25 years. For installations after the 3rd March 2012 a new lower tariff will come into effect on the 1st April 2012 of 21p/kWh
for 25 years. Other tariffs apply for larger applications and the maximum capacity of a scheme is 5 MW in order to be eligible for solar feed-in tariffs. Visit the Energy Saving Trust for more information. There is then an additional payment of 3p/kWh for excess energy which is fed back into the national grid.
Should you move property, the installation of course stays with that dwelling and the new owner would be eligible to continue receiving solar feed-in tariff payments.
Other renewable technologies are also eligible for feed-in tariffs and more information can be found at the Energy Saving Trust website .
Please note that the government is currently awaiting the decision of a court case appeal which could effect the above information.
Source: www.est.org.uk 2012
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