What are Feed-In-Tariffs (FITs)?

Whilst most people know that solar panels exist and can be of benefit to them many people feel that they are just too expensive. It is widely recognised that solar panel installation can save you money but if you take into account the cost of installation it can seem like a long time before you see any real return on your investment.

By taking some time to explore many of the financial benefits available you will see that there are many ways to make solar panels work for you and your household.

The UK feed-in tariffs are one of the best ways to ease the cost of solar panels and their installation. A lot of the time our household cannot use all of the power that our solar panels generate, which means that previously it may have gone to waste. With the feed-in tariffs that are available, the government or your energy supplier buys this energy from you and re-uses it. This means that you get money for any electricity you can’t use, other people benefit from this renewable energy source and you save money on your own electricity bills.
You can benefit from these feed-in tariffs in 3 main ways:

Saving You Money
It is estimated that the average household saves around £250 a year on the cost of their energy bill. Of course this rate varies depending on individual usage but there can be no denying that it will save you money because you’ll simply be using less electric direct from your supplier

Generation Tariff
This tariff means that your supplier will pay you a set rate for each kWh of electricity that you generate. You agree an amount when you sign up to this scheme and it is guaranteed for up to 25 years.

Export Tariff
It is estimated that you only use around 50% of the electricity that you generate using your solar panels so your energy supply can buy back the rest of it at a set rate of 3.1p/kWh which helps to counteract the cost of your initial solar panel install.
The feed-in tariff isn’t just for personal solar panel installations and in fact other renewable energy sources that can qualify include:

• Wind turbines
• Anaerobic digesters
• Micro combined heat and power
• Hydroelectricity

If all of this sounds of interest but you aren’t sure where to start then it is time you began to research the options to see what is available to you. There are different resources you can use to do this research and a quick visit to the Solar Contact website should be enough to give you details on everything you need to know. As well as information on the latest feed-in tariff rates and rules they can point you in the direction of local, certified installers who can get you up and running with solar panels as quickly as you would like!