What is a Feed In Tariff?

On 1st April 2010 the Government introduced the Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) to encourage new investment in low carbon green technologies such as Solar PV, Wind Turbines, Hydro Generators and Anaerobic Digestion (AD) units.

Under the FITs, anyone who installs an eligible Solar PV system will receive a guaranteed fixed payment for all the electricity they generate, including what they use, for a period of 20 years. They will also receive an additional payment for any electricity they don’t use that they feed back into the National Grid. To top it all off, people installing systems will also benefit from reduced electricity bills as they’ll effectively become their own power stations and so won’t need to use as much from electricity suppliers and the grid.
This means that there has never been a better time for you to install a Solar PV system. Not only will you be significantly reducing your carbon footprint, you’ll also be reducing your energy bills and getting paid to do it!

How are Feed In Tariffs paid?

Feed-in Tariffs are paid by electricity suppliers in one of two ways; either as a direct payment into your bank account or as a credit line to your energy bills. Although the FITs are a government initiative, the actual fund used to pay generators is paid into by electricity suppliers based on the proportion of the UK that they supply. Suppliers are recovering this cost through an increase in electricity bills to standard consumers, though this is estimated at only £3 extra per bill by 2016. This would be similar to the Climate Change Levy (CCL) currently added to UK energy bills.

How much will I be paid and what will I save?

The amount you are paid will depend on the size and type of system that you install as different technologies receive different amounts for different lengths of time. These payments are intended to give a certain percentage return each year based on the initial cost of a system.

Take a look at the current Feed-in-Tariff rates