News

FiT changes explained

30 January 2012

The Department of Energy & Climate Change recently announced a compromise to the proposed changes for Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs).

They originally wanted the price paid per unit to be lowered for all photovoltaic installations added on or after 12 December 2011. The date has since been challenged and the 3 March 2012 has been proposed as an alternative.

The prices are now set to drop from 1^st April this year for all installations put in on or after 3^rd March 2012.

This means that instead of getting 43p (or less) per unit of electricity, new installations will only be eligible for a maximum of 21p. Not so exciting for individual producers but better for the PV industry and carbon footprint of the country.

Why are they paying less?

When FiTs were first introduced, nobody knew how popular they would become. What's happened is that lots of new PV installations have been commissioned and the budget set aside for the tariffs is being consumed too quickly, at an unsustainable rate.

 Paying less money to individual producers means there will be more left in the pot to encourage and provide for new installations and developments. That means more people can benefit from the FiT scheme and the amount of solar energy available to the UK as a whole can increase at a pace.

What next?

There was a consultation period which ended in December 2011. The results of this are due to be announced on 9 February 2012, and any requisite legislative changes will be added to the tariff in time for the new price launch on 1^st April.

For more information including the new payment details read the DECC press release.