Types of Solar Panel Grants

Governments across the world are trying to encourage residents to embrace renewable technology in a bit to cut carbon emissions.

Until 2006, the UK government offered solar panel grants to help with the purchase of solar PV modules.

Now this has been replaced with a Feed-in-Tariff (FiT), which pays panel holders money for the energy they produce.

Do I Qualify For Feed-in-Tariff In The UK?

To qualify for the FiT in the UK you must be a UK resident and own the property on which the system is to be installed. If you rent the property you can try and negotiate with your landlord. The solar power system you install can be stand alone or roof mounted.

Your system has to be installed by a MCS qualified installer and be made up of MCS certificated components.

How Much Money Do I Get From Solar Panel Grants In The UK?

Firstly, you save money by not paying electricity bills, because you have created your own energy.

Secondly the energy company will pay a generation tariff (7.1p per kWh), which is a small sum paid per kW whether the energy is used by you or not.

Thirdly the energy company will then pay you an export tariff of 4.5p after per kW for all energy not used that they can than export back to their grid.

A household who would normally spend about £35 a month on bills, can look to save / make just under £391 a year by not paying for energy and payment from the government's solar panel grant.

Is Installing Solar Panels In The UK Worthwhile?

On average a solar panel system costs £6,000-£7,000 to install on a family home. This means with the FiT system the owner will fully recoup the cost of installing a solar power system within nine to 12 years, making it a worthwhile investment.

Solar PV panels typically give an 8-12% ROI, which is very profitable.