Top 10 Things to Know About the Feed-in-Tariff

Designed to encourage people to generate their own electricity using renewable technologies, the feed-in tariff (Fit) scheme was launched on 1 April 2010.

The Government-backed incentive is open to businesses, communities, homeowners and even schools, and allows people taking part in the scheme to benefit financially by generating their own electricity.

We’ve taken a look at the top 10 things you need to know about the Government-backed lucrative scheme and how it applies to solar technology:

Top 10 Facts About the Feed-in Tariff (FiT)

1. The Feed-in Tariff (FiT) works in 2 ways:

• The Generation Tariff guarantees a minimum payment for every kilowatt hour of electricity generated by a renewable electricity system.
• The Export Tariff offers an extra payment for any unused electricity that can be exported back to the national grid.

2. The Generation Tariff currently pays up to 13.39p/kWh for solar PV depending on the type and size of the system used to generate the energy, while the Export Tariff pays 4.85p/kWh for any surplus energy you export back to the grid.

3. To qualify the technology needs to have been installed between 15 July 2009 and 31 March 2010 and transferred to the feed-in tariff before 1 April 2010 OR the technology was installed after 1 April 2010 by an installer who is certified under the Microgeneration Certificate Scheme.

4. Solar PV, wind turbines, hydroelectricity, anaerobic digestion and micro-combined heat and power systems (Micro-CHP) all qualify for the Feed-in Tariff scheme.

5. The FiT is normally paid over the course of 20 years.

6. The Feed-in Tariff is regulated by energy regulator Ofgem.

7. The scheme is not currently available in Northern Ireland.

8. A typical domestic solar electricity system, with an installation size of 3kWp costing £5,180.89 could generate a total profit of £11,629.42 over a 20 year period, with a payback time of 7 years and 9 months.

9. Feed-in Tariffs operate worldwide, in countries including China, Australia, South Africa and the United States.

10. With the Feed-in Tariff, you benefit in 3 ways: aside from the savings on your energy bills, you’ll receive payment from generating your own electricity plus an extra payment should you export any of the energy you generate back to the national grid.