What is the Feed in Tariff Sheme?

The Feed in Tariff Scheme (FiTs) or Clean Cashback Scheme is a government financial incentive scheme designed to encourage home and business owners to switch to renewable energy products, such as solar photovoltaics.  By doing so, homes and businesses across the country will be generating their own energy and reducing their carbon footprint.  This will help the Government achieve the carbon emission targets that have been set.

The scheme was implemented on 1 April 2010 and is available in Great Britain (excl Northern Ireland).  The FiT scheme guarantees a minimum payment for all the electricity generated by your system, as well as a separate payment for the electricity that is exported to the grid.  Despite recent Government cuts on tariff rates, the scheme still offers a generous return and will provide a higher return on your investment than high street savings schemes.

Feed in Tariff Benefits

You will benefit in many ways from having a solar photovoltaic system installed and registering the scheme, some of the benefits are listed below:

1    Get paid a tax free income for the electricity you generate even if you use it yourself.

2    Get an additional tax free income for the electricity you export back to the grid.

3    Benefit from a reduction in your energy bills as you will be using the electricity you have generated first.

4    Provide protection from increasing energy prices.

5    The tariffs payments are tax free and linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI).

6    Domestic and Charities benefit from the reduced rate of VAT, currently 5%, on the cost of the supply and installation.

7    Receive a better return on your initial investment than most saving schemes offer.

8    Reduce your carbon footprint and help protect the environment.

What do I get paid for?

If you are eligible to receive the Feed in Tariff you will benefit financially in three different ways:

Generation Tariff

This is the main tax free payment and is a set rate paid to you by your energy supplier for each unit (or kWh) of electricity that your system generates.  This is paid for every kWh generated whether you consume the electricity yourself or export it back to the grid.  This rate is currently set at 21p per kWh for domestic systems up to 4 kWp.  In order to receive this rate there is a requirement to show your property has an EPC Band D rating or above.  If you cannot show this on the date the application for FIT registration is made then you will receive the lower rate of 9p per kWh .  We will assist you with this and further information is provided on the EPC Advice page.  However, whatever the rate is when your system is installed and registered, you will continue to benefit at that rate for the 25 year period of the scheme even with reductions in the tariff for new entrants to the scheme in the future.

Export Tariff

This is additional tax free payment you receive for the electricity that you export back to the grid.  This is currently set at 3.1p per kWh.  This will be paid by your energy supplier for each unit that you do not use.  Unless you have an export meter or smart meter, domestic installations will have their export 'deemed' at 50%.  This means that your energy supplier will pay you for half of what your system has generating based on the presumption that you have used half.  If you have a larger system and are out of the house during the day, it may be beneficial to request an export meter so that you benefit fully from the Export Tariff.

Energy Bill Savings

In addition to the tariff payments detailed above, you will also make significant savings on your electricity bills.  This is because during daylight hours you will be using the electricity generated by your system.  The amount you save will depend greatly on the size of your system, the cost of the electricity from your supplier and what your electricity usage is.

How will I know how much I will earn and save?

As an MCS Approved Installer, we ensure that you are provided with a SAP estimate and financial forecast when we provide you with a quotation.  The SAP estimate will provide a calculation of how much electricity your system is expected to generate annually.  This is based upon the size of the system, the orientation and pitch of your roof and also takes into account any shading issues.  Whilst this calculation must be taken as precedence, we also prepare a further calculation using the specialist software which takes into other considerations such as your geographical location.  This is important as the irradiation from the sun varies over the United Kingdom.  From this we will then prepare you a financial forecast which will be broken down so that you can see what to expect from the Generation Tariff, the Export Tariff and what savings you can expect on your bill. 

This information is then used alongside your quotation to calculate what your 'payback' period will be and your estimated return.  Many people are quite taken aback when they realise what return they can realistically expect.  

How do I register?

The scheme is very straightforward and easy to register for.  The main criteria is that your photovoltaic system is installed by an MCS Approved Installer, such as Ecofurb (UK) Ltd using MCS Approved Products.  Once your system has been installed and commissioned, your installation will be registered on the MCS Installation Database.  It is your responsibility to register for the scheme but we provide our customers with assistance on registration with the scheme as standard.  

We recommend that once you have placed an order you contact your supplier to inform them of the upcoming installation and request a registration form for the FiT scheme.  We also advise that you check with your supplier if they have any specific requirements such as submission of the registration form within a set time period and if a photo is required.   Some suppliers have this information and the form available on their website but others require you to contact them direct using a dedicated telephone number.

You will be provided with all of the documents and information you require in your Customer Document Handover Pack.  We are required to provide this to you within 7 days of commissioning the system but we provide as standard within 2 working days or less.  If you are going away after your installation please advise us as soon as possible and we shall ensure that the Customer Document Handover Pack is available within 24 hours.  If  you advise us in advance of your electricity supplier that you are registering the installation with we can also include a template with the information relating to your installation pre-prepared.  This will enable you to complete the form provided by your supplier with confidence.  In the interest of security we will not ask you for or complete any fields that require your personal or financial details.  Please remember that if you do require additional assistance our office team is on hand to answer any queries.