Solar feed-in tariff cut delayed

The_Green_Hornet

A cut in the subsidies on offer to home-owners who install solar panels to generate electricity has been delayed by the government.


The feed-in tariff will fall to 16 pence per KW hour from 21p on 1 August, not on 1 July as previously announced. It will then fall every three months, depending on market conditions.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18192302

Martyn1981

The_Green_Hornet wrote: »

A cut in the subsidies on offer to home-owners who install solar panels to generate electricity has been delayed by the government.


The feed-in tariff will fall to 16 pence per KW hour from 21p on 1 August, not on 1 July as previously announced. It will then fall every three months, depending on market conditions.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18192302

The best bit of that story:

"It also increased the amount consumers get for selling electricity back to the national grid - the so-called export tariff - to 4.5p per KW hour from 3.2p."

Good, that levels the playing field a little, and makes a lot more sense. No idea if this will affect existing PV owners, and personally I don't particularly care as it's been a very generous scheme, but, as tariffs are cut, a 'fairer' fall back price for units should help improve viability just a little bit more.

Mart.

GaryMo_2

Martyn1981 wrote: »

The best bit of that story:

"It also increased the amount consumers get for selling electricity back to the national grid - the so-called export tariff - to 4.5p per KW hour from 3.2p."

Is this for everybody? Including 43.3p (45.4p) installations?
If so, when will that come into play?

GaryMo_2

Answered my own question, it's just for installations after the 1st August 2012. Prior to that date will get the current 3.2p rate.

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Pages/MoreInformation.aspx?docid=1&refer=Sustainability/Environment/fits/tariff-tables

rogerblack

It's a pity no (?) providers will let you hook up small arrays of non-approved panels.

I have a couple of ideas that might actually be practical at 4.5p/kWh.

cannonballdaze

Answered my own question, it's just for installations after the 1st August 2012. Prior to that date will get the current 3.2p rate.

I thought export rates were set by / negotiated with the electricity companies, not OFGEM ?

This differentiation (4.5 / 3.2) is chipping away at the advantage I gained by being an early adopter.

I bet successive governments will continue this trend.

Joe

Cardew

cannonballdaze wrote: »

Answered my own question, it's just for installations after the 1st August 2012. Prior to that date will get the current 3.2p rate.

I thought export rates were set by / negotiated with the electricity companies, not OFGEM ?

This differentiation (4.5 / 3.2) is chipping away at the advantage I gained by being an early adopter.

I bet successive governments will continue this trend.

Joe

Export rates are meaningless when you can claim for 50% of generated output and(in theory) export nothing.

Don't early adopters get a higher rate of FIT?

Martyn1981

cannonballdaze wrote: »

Answered my own question, it's just for installations after the 1st August 2012. Prior to that date will get the current 3.2p rate.

I thought export rates were set by / negotiated with the electricity companies, not OFGEM ?

This differentiation (4.5 / 3.2) is chipping away at the advantage I gained by being an early adopter.

I bet successive governments will continue this trend.

Joe

Bear in mind that the anticipated rate from 1/7/12 was to be 16.5p, so the 16p rate from 1/8/12 is down 0.5p but gains 0.65p (4.5p-3.2p) at deemed 50% export rate.

Personally I love it, because raising the export to the approx current market rate makes the export more realistic, and will help in the long run with potential viability, as the cost of both import and export rises, and install costs fall.

Admittedly I'm not an early adopter as I 'joined' in Aug 11, so I got a good rate of return, despite an ESE install. But I'd happily trade a penny on the generation rate to move the export up to 4.5p, even though that would cost me a little overall.

Mart.