Solar thermal panels utilise sunlight’s power to warm your home’s water supply; a boiler or immersion heater can be used to raise the heat of the water, or to supply hot water when solar power is unavailable (this will come in handy within the winter months).To assist with the prices, there are lots of types of solar thermal panel grants attainable within the UK:
Are you a believer of eco-friendly power production? Do you wish to install solar panels at home to be able to contribute towards saving the environment? Then knowing about the grants for solar panels by the government of UK can be very beneficial to you.These grants are a way for the government to encourage production of solar power by householders for domestic use.
Q: Does the government finance the solar panels?
A: No. the government does not pay for the solar panels. However, the UK government pays for the electricity produced using solar panels. This is called feed-in tariff (FiT)
Q: What is feed-in tariff?
A: Feed in tariff is the payment govermnet makes to homeowners who install solar panels for domestic consumption. The payment is done based on every KWh of electricity that is produced.
Q: What if the electricity produced is more than consumed?
A: There are two kinds of FiT – the generation tariff and the export tariff. Generation tariff is paid to house owners for every KWh of electricity produced for domestic consumption. The excess electricity produced by the solar panels is exported and the export tariff is paid for every KWh electricity exported.
Q: Is the grant for solar panels lowered for 2016?
A: With increasing number of house owners installing solar panels for the FiT, the government has reduced the grant for solar panels in 2016. It is however still profitable to install solar panels as it not just produces earnings in the form of grant for solar power but also saves on the electricity bills.
Q: Will the grant for solar power be reduced in the future as well?
A: The grant for solar power might be reduced in the future as well but once an individual house owner installs a solar panel and signs a contract with the government, the price is locked down for next 20 years and the government guarantees payment at the fixed rate for next 20 years.
Q: What if I am willing but do not have money to install the solar panels?
A: While the grant for solar panels has been stopped by the government, there are installation agencies who install solar panels free of cost but instead of the FiT being paid to the house owner, they are claimed by these companies. The house owner however benefits from the savings on the electricity bills.
Q: What is the amount granted for the electricity generated?
A: The government pays an amount of 4.77p for every KWh of electricity produced by the solar panels. But the government changes the exact rate. Whatever is the prevalent rate at the time of registration of the panels gets locked in for 20 years.
Q: Can house owners who have an existing solar panel in place also apply for the grant in tariff?
A: As per the revisions in the Feed-in Tariff scheme in January 2016, the grant for solar power cannot be extended to existing solar panels. Only new solar panels that are installed can be registered for this grant.
Q: How does one apply for the FiT solar grant?
A: If the solar panels installed have a Declared Net Capacity less than or equal to 50KWh then applications need to be submitted to a FiT licensee for accreditation. For DNC greater than 50KWh applications should be submitted for ROO-FiT accreditation.
Q: Who are FiT licensee?
A: Licensed electricity suppliers registered with the FIT scheme are called The FIT licensees. They accredit the installation in a house and make the FIT payments for the electricity generated.A full list of FIT licensees can be found on the website of ofgem.
Q: How does one receive payment for the electricity generated?
A: A start meter reading needs to be provided to the FiT licensee. After that meter readings need to be provided regularly to the FiT licensee and payments will be made within 90 days of receiving the meter readings.
The government earlier provided grant for free solar panels for the generation of clean energy of households. With the increasing number of house owners opting for the scheme, the government stopped funding the solar panels. However, the Feed-in Tariff that the government provides is also a great initiative to ensure that the efforts towards generating solar power continues and keeps the environment safe.