Solar PV Feed in Tarrif payments - Neither Green not Ethical

The_Green_Man_2

Hi,

Solar Feed in Tariffs are paid to people who install Photovoltaic panels (predominantly middle income home owners) but what many people don't reasise are that they are paid for by adding a charge to everyone's energy bills, many of whom are low paid and already struggling with their increasing energy bills.

I find it therefore amazing that the "Green and Ethical Moneysaving board" is clogged with threads about solar PV and FIT payments. How is it in any way ethical for low paid members of society to subsidize the energy bills of middle income householders?

As a champion of the poorer members of society, I'm disappointed that Martin Lewis doesn't make a stand and ask these people to discuss their solar FIT payments in the investments board, rather than the Green and Ethical board. These people have invested in solar for the guaranteed investment return, rather than for purely environmental reasons and as such their discussions are in the worng place.

The Green and Ethical moneysaving board is clogged with Solar feed in tarrif threads, which are moneysaving for a few, but add to the energy bills of all. Hardly ethical.

The_Green_Man_2

Just to add. What's even worse is that people are also advising others with PV to get devices that divert energy into their water tanks instead of into the national grid, despite a large chunk of the feed in tariff payment being paid for energy export. Effectively they are encouraging people to commit fraud.

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generating-energy/Getting-money-back/Feed-In-Tariffs-scheme-FITs

"Export tariff: you will get a further 4.64p/kWh from your energy supplier for each unit you export back to the electricity grid, so you can sell any electricity you generate but don't use yourself. This rate is the same for all technologies. At some stage smart meters will be installed to measure what you export, but until then it is estimated as being 50% of the electricity you generate"

The_Green_Man_2

Here is an example of the type of people that now post on the Green and Ethical board:

jeepjunkie wrote: »

The_Green_Man wrote: »

Is it so difficult to believe that someone who is middle class, middle income and has enough roof space for a 10 KW/h solar PV system if he so chose could possibly be against a government scheme that not only discriminates against the poor, but even worse, that takes money from the poor and distributes it to the wealthy?

Honestly/seriously, is that really so difficult to believe or understand?

Yet the 'poor' expect the rest of us to get out and work hard to pay for their benefits? Hence why I said earlier that income tax raised does not cover the benefits bill. An extremely odd situation dont you agree which has landed us with a 4.3 trillion pound debt which thanks to the structural deficit gets bigger every day... FITs is small fry in the real world.

I would have more respect for the some able bodied 'poor' if they could find something to do other than smash bottles daily on cycle paths that pass through their estates. Small minded idiots... Plenty work out there but benefits pay more as we live in a society where a large bulk of the population think they are entitled to things instead of working hard to achieve them...

My response:

The_Green_Man wrote: »

I seem to think that it was the bankers who caused the financial crisis, not the poor. I am also amazed that you think people poorer than yourself are all criminals or benefit layabouts.

Your post is appallingly prejudiced but not surprising. This is exactly my point when I say that the Green and Ethical board has been hijacked by hard nosed investors who should be posting on an investment board and not a board that used to be for people who care about their environment and their society.

The_Green_Man_2

Could you therefore move the solar investment threads onto a new sub-board in the Investment and Savings forum and allow the Green and Ethical Moneysaving board to revert back to what it was originally intended for:

MSE_Martin wrote: »

Sometimes going cheap can hurt the environment. This board's been set up to counter that. How do you live life the MoneySaving way, but protect our planet too?

As environmental issues impact right across our lives, the issue is of course duplicated elsewhere, such as organic food buying in MoneySaving Old Style. Yet my aim is this is a forum that will cover cost cutting and enviromentally friendly and also ethical financial issues too.