Solar energy and the Feed-In Tariff - your opinions

Glaucus said:
Why is it odd? You know what the aim of subsidies are? And that there are many thousands of subsidies available in many areas.

They're re-adjusting it as the price of panels has significantly fallen since the scheme started.


It's gone from 12-13k for a 3.68pKW system to tesco offering it for £8.5k

As for point two, well you need to understand they are upgrading the grid and wanting to put national grid storage in, of which there are several options on the horizon. The Grid is being upgraded by 3bn a year. We are going to use many energy sources in the future, just as we do now.
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Fair enough, but my point is they seem to have completely cocked up the FIT. It was too high and now electricity users are stuck paying for it for over another 20 years!?

BTW - Do we even now what the current FIT is for current installs?
 
How was it to high? It was set at a level that would generate interest and get the technology into the public mind. It's succeeded.
So how was it to much?


I think it's still all up on the air.
 
Glaucus said:
How was it to high? It was set at a level that would generate interest and get the technology into the public mind. It's succeeded.
So how was it to much?
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I think it's now clear to pretty much everyone involved that the original 41p tariff was set too high, it should have been more like 30p. That would still have proved attractive, prices would still have fallen (largely due to Chinese public subsidy of manufacturing, not the relatively small UK demand) yet we wouldn't have needed the disruptive knee-jerk reaction from Government last December.
 
I think the whole idea is great. I've not got any panels yet but have looked at this since the scheme started. Yes the FITS were high but it was there to tempt people into investing their own money into the hardware which in the early days was a big commitment. Now prices are starting to fall because there is now a demand the FITS reduction isnt a big issue given the initial outlay is falling.

Given a few years the increase efficiency of the panels will increase, the price to buy and install will fall and take up will increase.

Sounds like a win win for both the consumer, the energy companies and the government who need several solutions to an energy gap which is going to hit us in a few years time
 
clv101 said:
I think it's now clear to pretty much everyone involved that the original 41p tariff was set too high, it should have been more like 30p. That would still have proved attractive, prices would still have fallen (largely due to Chinese public subsidy of manufacturing, not the relatively small UK demand) yet we wouldn't have needed the disruptive knee-jerk reaction from Government last December.
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Who's this everyone? To high compared to what? What are you basing that assumption on?
 
Glaucus said:
Who's this everyone? To high compared to what? What are you basing that assumption on?
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agree - for those early adopters you had a large outlay on an emerging technology, without any real world feedback of how much energy would be produced and fed back to off set their investment. The 41p was the carrot to get the technology and scheme off the ground - and from what I read it worked
 
When the FIT was first announced installs were around the £15-20k mark so the price set was realistic. They should have reduced it by 10-20% each year.
 
Got my first cheques at the weekend. I have 2 properties with solar panels on and have the following returns:

My house south east facing, 3.84kw system installed 15/11/2011 - 14/07/2012 = £977.92
Rental house south facing, 3.84kw system installed 15/11/2011 - 14/07/2012 = £1072.24

£22,200 initial investment so have a return of 9.24% in 8 months.

Not bad considering the weather we have had so far :mad:

How everyone elses systems doing?

Anyone recently got solar? How is that doing with the new rates, my dad is interested in getting solar?
 
So hang on... they don't actually have to run anything back to your mains dist board? They just effectively plug it into the mains and that's it? Might look at this next year if so as I wouldn't want them chasing down the walls to put cabling in to under the stairs.
 
50kw scheme. generated £6.9k so far.

yield for june / july has been shocking. dropped significantly from April / may... lets hope things pick up...

still, we are at 5% on our money already.
 
The weather has been really annoying for solar but its still good to see great returns anyway. Will be interesting to see what the systems can do in a great summer if we ever get one.
 
gjrc said:
still, we are at 5% on our money already.
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Thats a good return on investment already! From what I've seen generation is down around 30% for May and June compared with the same period last year. However overall total generation figures are on track with PVGIS estimates.

The FiT is still a very good deal even at the reduced tariff in August, particularly as prices of panels and inverters are falling significantly. Its a highly competitive market on PV panels now which is good for the buyer. Also bear in mind that energy prices could double by 2020, getting your electricity from photovoltaics could save you a huge amount on energy costs over the years.
 
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