Subsidies have been cut to prevent giant solar farms grabbing all the subsidies, but remain for up to 4kw domestic installs. Recent articles in the media indicate that some companies are selling FIT's like double glazing, so caution is required
Green Energy - (From Cllr. Steve Barber 13-07-2011)
All this talk of “green energy” being heavily subsidised has had me doing a bit of research. The last government were very keen to promote renewable energy but realised that at present this is hardly likely to be economic; we can simply import gas quite cheaply. The trouble is once this gas either runs out or an unfriendly foreign regime decides to turn off the tap, we may not be prepared. They therefore subsidised green energy through the “Feed in tariffs”. This means that for every Kwh of electricity you generate from a renewable resource you get a subsidy of 30-40p depending on type. This applies whether you use the energy yourself or sell it to the grid. However, if you sell it to the grid you only get a fraction of the amount it may cost to buy it back later, so it’s advisable to run the dishwasher when the sun shines. There are various ways of joining the club and getting solar electricity, the savings could amount to about 30% of your electricity bill. I attach a pdf file which explains it all. Click here for pdf..
Eon are operating a system where for £99 they install the equipment and maintain it for 25 years; you get to keep any energy it produces if you can use it, they get to keep the feed in tariffs, see http://tinyurl.com/42pu8x9 for details, but beware and read the small print. One point which was not made clear, but I now have a letter from the current Government Minister confirming the worst is that these feed in tariffs are not guaranteed at the current rates. He admits that he may well alter them. So you could spend a lot of money and get less return. Of course energy prices will probably go up.
See Also: http://www.nottenergy.com/renewable-energy/solar-electricity
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/apr/01/feed-in-tariff-green-energy?intcmp=239
http://www.ashadegreener.co.uk/
Clean Energy CashBack: http://www.cleanenergycashback.com/
Meadows Solar Powered Eco-Taxis - from a feed in tariff project:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-14028701
Other UK-wide examples:
BBC on a large scale PV install - again the new panel technology would be good to know about
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-14073447
Renewables
