What are Feed-In Tariffs?

solar panels, Yorkshire, Barnsley, PV power, feed in tariff, free solar panels, renewable energy, green power, solar power Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) became available in Great Britain on the 1st April 2010.

Under this scheme energy suppliers make regular payments to householders and communities who generate their own electricity from renewable or low carbon sources such as solar panels and solar electricity (PV).

The scheme guarantees a minimum payment for all electricity generated by the solar panels, as well as a separate payment for the electricity exported to grid. These payments are in addition to the bill savings made by using the electricity generated on-site.

Feed-in tariffs are designed so that the average monthly income from your installation will be significantly greater than repayment on your initial investment (as for example with a 25 year loan).

Use Norcroft's Income Calculator on the right of this page to see how much cash and electricity you could generate and how feed-in tariffs and solar panel purchase price can impact on payback times.

Remember that in order to be eligible for the feed-in and export tariffs, your solar panels must be installed by a company such as Norcroft Solar PV who are certificated under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).

How It Works

If you are eligible to receive the FIT then you will benefit in 3 ways:

  1. Generation tariff
    An index-linked rate paid by the energy supplier for each unit (or kWh) of electricity you generate. This rate is currently 43.3p/kWh for retrofitted PV systems no larger than 4 kW and will continue for 25 years in the case of solar electricity.

  2. Export tariff
    You will receive a further 3p/kWh from your energy supplier for each unit you export back to the electricity grid, that is when it isn’t used on site. Domestic FIT installations are likely to have their export estimated at 50% in most cases until smart meters are rolled out.

  3. Energy bill savings
    You will make a saving on your electricity bills, because solar panels generating electricity to power your appliances means you won’t have to buy as much electricity from your energy supplier. The amount you save will vary depending how much of the solar electricity generated you use on your property.