A guide to the Feed in Tariff

The UK government is committed to reducing carbon emissions through the adoption of renewable energy sources.  As part of this commitment, they introduced legislation to ensure that consumers are incentivised to install renewable energy measures.

On 1 April 2010, the government launched Feed-in-Tariffs (FiT). This means that anyone who installs a Solar PV system is paid for ALL the electricity generated, whether they use it or not, for a 25 year period.  Any electricity not used by the system owner will be sold back to their electricity supplier who will pay them an additional amount called the Export Tariff.  

It is this fixed Feed-in-tariff paid by the electricity suppliers which makes Solar PV an attractive prospect for your home as it guarantees you a good return on your investment.  To encourage people to install solar PV sooner rather than later, a more generous feed-in-tariff is paid for all systems installed before April 2012. After that, the rate drops by 8.5% every year.  Once you start at a given tariff, it is guaranteed for the full 25 year period and is index linked.

Here’s how you make the money.

• The Generation Tariff
  This is a fixed rate tariff paid to you by your electricity supplier, for every unit of electricity your PV system generates for 25 years, whether you use it or not.

• The Export Tariff
  This is an additional rate paid to you by your electricity supplier, for every unit of electricity you don’t use, and which is exported back to the national grid.

• Avoided Costs
  These are the savings you make on your electricity bill by not having to import electricity from the national grid, because you have generated your own electricity

• Imported Electricity
  This is the amount of electricity you still buy from your electricity supplier when your PV system is not providing enough electricity (eg. overnight when there’s no sunlight)

Year of Installation (from April each year)	Generation Tariff Paid (for 25 year period)	Export Tariff
2010	41.3p	3p
2011	41.3p	3p
2012	37.8p	3p
2013	34.6p	3p
2014	31.6p	3p
2015	28.9p	3p
2016	26.5p	3p
2017	24.2p	3p
2018	22.2p	3p
2019	20.3p	3p
2020	18.6p	3p

 

If you wait until 2015 to install your Solar PV system, you could lose as much as £5,000 over the system’s lifetime  (based on a 2.115kWp system).

Take a look at how much you can earn by entering your details on the cashback calculator.

• Use our Roof Checker to calculate the size of system to fit on your roof
• On the Calculator page, enter ‘Solar Electricity’ on the Start Here box
• Select <4kW system
• Click the appropriate map section
• Enter the anticipated system size (from our Roof Checker)
• Choose 50% export option (current calculation used by Utility companies until special Export meters become available)
• A table will appear showing your anticipated savings and income from the Feed in Tariff

Go to Book a Survey now and arrange for a detailed quotation. You may also want to take a look at our Dyson Green Loan to help finance your purchase.   Your loan repayments may be covered by the income from the Feed in Tariff, depending on the size of system you can install.  Ask our Surveyor for more details.