Financial Incentives

Feed-in Tariff

The government launched the Clean Energy Cashback scheme to incentivise the generation of heat and power from renewable sources.

The renewable energy tariff for electricity is known as the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) and went live on April 1st 2010.

Under this scheme energy suppliers make regular payments to businesses, organisations or households who generate their own electricity from renewable or low carbon sources such as solar PV panels.

Financial benefits
If you are eligible to receive the Feed-In Tariff then you will benefit in 3 ways:
1. Generation tariff – a set rate paid by the energy supplier for each unit (or kWh) of electricity you generate.
2. Export tariff - a further 3p/kWh from your energy supplier for each unit you export to the grid.
3. Energy bill savings – a reduction on your electricity bills, from using electricity you produce yourself.

The payments are index-linked and, for solar PV systems, guaranteed for 25 years. The Feed-in-Tariff is administered by Ofgem, and energy suppliers are responsible for payments to their customers.
As soon as your solar PV system is commissioned and Ecofirst has registered the installation, you can start claiming the Feed-In Tariff.

Which systems are covered by the FIT?
Both building mounted and ground mounted solar PV systems, up to an installation size of 5 Mega Watts, are covered by the scheme.

The tariffs available and the process for receiving them vary, depending on when the technology was installed, and whether the system and the installer were certificated under the MCS* scheme.

You will qualify for the full FIT payments if:

The system was installed between 15th July 2009 and 31st March 2010 and you transferred to FITs before 1st April; OR
The system is installed after 1st April 2010 using an MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) certificated product and installer. Ecofirst is an approved installer (MCS1036) of solar PV systems.

More information on the Feed-In Tariff is available at http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/ and http://www.fitariffs.co.uk/