30 Oct 2011: There are changes to the PV Feed in Tariff coming up, and these will affect newcomers, not those who already have it. The likelihood is that the FIT will drop from 43pence a unit to about 21p a unit. This is still well above the buy-in price of electricity, but gives a slower return - more like 18 years, instead of 8 years.
This is partially to deter the slap-happy buyer who is doing it for the money, and not considering the quality of the installation, or the better use of their money, for example by Thermal Insulation. The other reason is that the world price of panels has fallen so massively, that the cost of installation has halved in just 2 years - scaffolding labour and inverters are the same, but the Chinese production volume and quality have improved beyond all predictions. Relative to what they have invested, the return (from a micro-levy on all energy buyers) is too great.
It is a big blow for the Solar industry which has geared up to meet the demand, and now has to diversify or see many new companies closing or merging.
If you have PV up, but have not yet registered for FIT, do it now! If you are merely thinking about PV, then decide quickly as there may be only a month to get it fitted, and installers will have such full order books that you cannot be 'shopping around for a bargain' - just decide quickly.
See a few links.
http://rushcliffesolar.blogspot.com/2011/10/changes-to-fit.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2011/oct/28/feed-in-tariffs-solarpower
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2120568/feed-tariff-cuts-threaten-kill-solar-pv
http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/news/national-news/122739-consumers-and-industry-react-with-fury-to-leaked-feed-in-tariff-cut-plans.html
This is partially to deter the slap-happy buyer who is doing it for the money, and not considering the quality of the installation, or the better use of their money, for example by Thermal Insulation. The other reason is that the world price of panels has fallen so massively, that the cost of installation has halved in just 2 years - scaffolding labour and inverters are the same, but the Chinese production volume and quality have improved beyond all predictions. Relative to what they have invested, the return (from a micro-levy on all energy buyers) is too great.
It is a big blow for the Solar industry which has geared up to meet the demand, and now has to diversify or see many new companies closing or merging.
If you have PV up, but have not yet registered for FIT, do it now! If you are merely thinking about PV, then decide quickly as there may be only a month to get it fitted, and installers will have such full order books that you cannot be 'shopping around for a bargain' - just decide quickly.
See a few links.
http://rushcliffesolar.blogspot.com/2011/10/changes-to-fit.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2011/oct/28/feed-in-tariffs-solarpower
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2120568/feed-tariff-cuts-threaten-kill-solar-pv
http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/news/national-news/122739-consumers-and-industry-react-with-fury-to-leaked-feed-in-tariff-cut-plans.html
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