A Summary Guide to Feed-In Tariffs - Campbell & Kennedy
Ofgem have recently published the latest set of Feed-In Tariff rates, which are valid from 1st April to 1st July 2014 and apply to a wide range of renewable energy technologies.
An overview of Feed-In Tariffs
Feed-In Tariffs (FITs) are part of a scheme which pays people for creating their own “green electricity”. FITs have replaced government grants as the main financial incentive to encourage uptake of renewable electricity generating technologies, to help meet the target of 15% of total energy from renewables by 2020. FITs can be generated from most domestic technologies in all sizes up to 5 megawatts, including solar photo-voltaics (PV) and wind turbines.
For most people, solar PV is the most feasible option to generate green energy. The following is an overview of how FITs work with solar panels:
Electricity is created by solar panels and your electricity suppliers pays you each unit of electricity you generate
You can use the electricity you generate, meaning you don’t have to import from the grid
You export electricity back to the grid when you don’t use it and you're paid an export tariff
You can import electricity from the grid when you need additional power
The financial benefits from FITs are:
A payment for all the electricity you produce, even if you use it yourself
Additional bonus payments for electricity you export into the grid
A reduction on your standard electricity bill, from using energy you produce yourself
FITs can be received by anyone, including households, landlords, businesses and even organisations such as schools and care homes.
The UK Government's Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) makes the key decisions on FITs in terms of government policy. The energy regulator Ofgem administers the scheme.
The FITs are revised every 3 months, and has a lifetime of 20 years. Once you are receiving Feed-In Tariffs, the rate you get will increase in line with inflation in accordance with the Retail Price Index (RPI).
To view the latest FiT prices, please visit our article on FiTs at http://www.campbellkennedy.co.uk/index.php/blog/blog/item/229-a-summary-guide-to-feed-in-tariffs-fits.html
Your energy supplier will make the FITs payments to you. The large energy suppliers are required by law to provide them; smaller suppliers are not, but many have opted to offer them anyway.
For you to qualify for FITs, the installer and the products you use must both be certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).
Campbell & Kennedy are approved MCS installers, with vast experience in carrying out installation, commissioning, MCS certification and FIT registration of Solar PV systems.
Campbell & Kennedy manage the whole process from feasibility study, design, installation and commissioning to customer liaison.
