Article: Government announce cuts to the FIT for Solar PV
« Back to News & Articles31/10/11
What it means to the consumer - ......as announced by the government on Monday 31st October 2011. From April next year it is intended to cut the FIT from £0.43 to £0.21 per Kw for domestic retrofit installations of less than 4Kwp. There will be a transition period however. Installations registered before 12 December 2011 will still get £0.43 per Kw for 25 years. Installations registered after 12 December 2011 will get £0.43 per Kw until 31st March 2012. Then their payments will reduce to £0.21 per Kw for the remainder of the 25 year tariff term. From 1st April 2012 Installations will get the tariff at £0.21 per Kw for 25 years.
Full story - www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/gb_fits/gb_fits.aspx
www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/gb_sol_article/gb_sol_article.aspx
1/11/10
Our opinion on the FIT proposed cuts
"Whilst we welcome a more sustainable approach to the FIT by reviewing it to ensure the funding is available for the benefit of many for years to come, and at a level which does not over burden the publics pocket. We feel that it will stunt the Industry just as it is growing. Its one of the few areas of growth in the UK economy, having created literally thousands of jobs. We feel this cut in the tariff will make the payback and benefits almost not worth the effort for many. The problem has always been that the financial model has always been too good - that is why so many big investors got involved and installed on an industrial scale. This has eaten up the fund. What happened to “micro” generation?. The clue is in the title - “micro”. The idea that we the consumer all do our little bit, collectively making a big difference.
We feel that the ideal tariff model is similar to that proposed by NAPIT. This model cuts the FIT for larger-non domestic installations. It also brings in new and increased levels for the domestic “micro”generation market, systems of less than 2.5Kw (about 80% of domestic installs) would attract an increased tariff to £0.50 per Kwp and between 2.5Kw and 5Kw would have a slightly reduced tariff of £0.30 per Kwp. This puts the funding within reach of the everyday (micro) people where it is supposed to be and not in the hands of the cash rich corporations."
