Feed in Tariff

Ubique1134

Hello all. I am hopeful someone on here will know what the hell is going on and if there is anything I can do about it.

I brought a new a new build house which I moved into on the 30th March. On this house is 6 solar panels which I now own. I contacted British gas shortly after moving in and registered for the feed in tariff. I have now however been told that they are not eligible for any feed in tariff at all because they were installed before the 15th Jan 2016 and I didn't register before the 1st April 2016. I have search high and low and finally found a mention of this under a section on the ofgem website under Transitional MCS installations. However being I didn't take ownership until the day before this cut off it seems a little unfair.

Anyone got any advice?

tunnel

There will still be a FiT to claim, the government haven't stopped paying it altogether, not yet anyway. See here for rates https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2016/04/01_april_2016_tariff_table.pdf
I think the problem arises from the fact that the FiT dropped quite considerably back in January and if I remember correctly a lot of FiT providers stopped processing new installations to get over the backlog of applications


Me personally, I'd be speaking to the builders. If those panels were installed before the 15th Jan then they should have registered them for FiT and transferred that FiT over to you on completion not wait till the house was sold. Its either Incompetence at its best or just the fact they installed the panels to reduce the carbon footprint of the house, one of many "green" measures new builds have done to comply with new building regs.

Martyn1981

Ubique1134 wrote: »

Hello all. I am hopeful someone on here will know what the hell is going on and if there is anything I can do about it.

Anyone got any advice?

It's not good news. I only heard about this on the 1st April, when I saw a blog post on a friendly installer site. The post explains most of it, and the shock that nobody seemed to know. The post is at the very end of March.

Recent Blog posts

All existing renewable energy installations with an MCS certificate issued before 15th January 2016 must submit their Feed-In Tariff application by 31st March 2016 or they will never be able to claim any Feed-In Tariff or Export payments.

I sincerely hope that there is some way around this as it seems wholly unfair that you can't, at the very least, apply for FiTs and export at the current lower rate.

The way the govt have singled out PV since May is almost impossible to fathom!

Sorry for the bad news, best of luck.

Mart.

Martyn1981

Ubique1134 wrote: »

Anyone got any advice?

Just had a thought. Are you 100% sure that the system is complete and working fine?

If not, could the installers pop round to complete the install, and issue you with a revised MCS cert with an April date, reflecting the true commissioning date, allowing you to register for the current FiT.

Mart.

tunnel

Wow Mart,


I stand corrected
That's one big kick in the b$lls is it not?

Time to find out if and when it was commissioned and whether the developer/installer completed any paperwork on it. Surely the correct procedure would have been to register for the FiT and transfer it once the house is sold.

theboylard

I like your thinking Mart.

To the OP, read Mart's suggestion carefully, are you sure the panels are working properly :cool:

Martyn1981

tunnel wrote: »

Wow Mart,


I stand corrected
That's one big kick in the b$lls is it not?

In situations like this, you have to ask, who gains? Why can't those unfortunate enough to miss out on the 12p + Export rate get the 4.3p + Exp rate. What harm is there, and why such a fast clean up date, with so little notice to the industry.

Can we really not afford to pay households 6.78p/kWh, when the Hinkley deal is now up to 9.9p/kWh in 2016 prices.


Anyways, back to Ubique, speak to the installers, explain the situation, hopefully they can rectify the 'fault'.

Mart.

Martyn1981

Ubique1134 wrote: »

Anyone got any advice?

And another thought. Did the property developers tell you about the PV and the FiT/Export income?

If so, would it be fair to say that they had some sort of responsibility to ensure this went through ok, since your purchase date makes it next to impossible for you to be expected to have resolved it?

Mart.

Ubique1134

Many thanks for all of your replies guys. I am back onto the builders now. Will see where that gets me.

Mart I like your idea, will speak with a sparky friend ��

Will let you know what comes of it.

Cardew

Martyn1981 wrote: »

In situations like this, you have to ask, who gains?
.

All electrical customers gain by not having a levy on their bills to pay for FIT.


It seems these days your sole justification for FIT is that electricity from new Nuclear power stations is also subsidised. Conveniently ignoring the inescapable fact that Nuclear generation is dependable 24/7, 365 days a year, and the only thing dependable about solar is that it is guaranteed NOT to generate at night when the UK Grid has maximum demand.

tunnel

Cardew wrote: »

and the only thing dependable about solar is that it is guaranteed NOT to generate at night when the UK Grid has maximum demand.

Here we go again....rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat