Feed in Tariff
The Feed-in Tariff (FIT) scheme is a government programme designed to promote the uptake of a range of small-scale renewable and low-carbon electricity generation technologies. The Feed-In Tariffs were introduced in April 2010, they are a Government-backed measure to incentivize you to produce renewable electricity.
There are three separate ways that the Tariffs help you make money from generating your own energy:
The Generation Tariff:
You earn a fixed income for every kilowatt hour of electricity you generate whether you use yourself in your property or export it to the grid.
The Export Tariff:
You earn an additional fixed income for every kilowatt hour of electricity you sell back to the grid.
The energy you still buy from your electricity supplier:
When you can’t generate enough electricity for your needs (if the wind don’t blow and the sun don’t shine) you still buy electricity from your utility company at the normal rates but it’ll be much less electricity than you currently buy
How much and how long
How much money you get is difficult to answer as the Government regularly change the tariff rate this is how they control the uptake to a reasonable rate. Tariffs are paid for 20 years, except solar systems installed before 1st August 2012, which qualify for 25 years. Tariffs are index-linked to RPI.
So do FIT’s work?
The answer to this is undoubtedly yes, you only have to look at the amount of PV installed in the UK in the last three years, but each project has to be evaluated on its own merits, this is where Synergy can help by providing independent unbiased professional advice.