Solar Panels Grants - Is the possibility of free solar panels a good deal?
The solar panels grants have been withdrawn since May 2010 and there are no more solar panels grants that are available in the UK, although there may be a few solar panels grants that are still available on a regional basis. The first thing you will need to do is get 3 solar panels quotes.
Now there are feed-in-tariffs instead of the solar panels grants and this is yet another incentive that is backed by the government. Here the home owners are rewarded for investing in renewable energy generating systems.
Here instead of solar panels grants the consumer is paid for each kilowatt-hour of electricity that is generated by the system even if this is for their own use.
The surplus energy that is not used is either exported to the national grid in case the home is connected to the national grid or it is stored in batteries to be used later on a rainy day.
The payment for the surplus electricity that is fed back to the national grid is currently set at 41.3p per kWh for the electricity that is generated by the system. In addition to this, another 3p is paid per kWh for electricity that is exported to the national grid (44.3p kWh).
From this year in 2011, the RHI or Renewable Heat Incentive another form of solar panels grants will also be made available in order to encourage the use of solar thermal panels which is another form of renewable energy used for heating purposes.
Free solar panels on offer by companies – not neccessarily a good option:
There are many companies that are vying to offer free solar panels in place of the solar panels grants and are willing to install a complete system on the roof of your home. This is either done for free or for a fee of £500.
The companies promise that you could save around £150 to £230 each year by saving on electric bills. However, there is a catch here and though the offer might sound good it is not really so.
The installation is done by the company for free and it costs around £15,000 (panels and installation charges). In return for allowing them to fix the system on your rooftop you will get around £150 to £230 worth of electricity for free for 25 years.
This is where the catch lies – for lending your roof these companies plan to cash in on the feed-in-tariffs that are worth £900 to £1,450 per year and the company is paid for covering your rooftop with photovoltaic cells.
Free solar panels Vs solar panels grants:
These free solar panels cannot store electricity and if you are out during most part of the day, then it doesn’t really match up to the solar panels grants as there isn’t much of a saving.
Invest in solar panels to benefit:
Hence, it makes more sense to invest in these solar panels on your own and enjoy the feed-in-tariffs instead of the solar panels grants, as well as the uninterrupted electricity supply throughout the day and night.
If you invest in the system, you can earn 41.3p per unit of electricity on the excess energy that is not used as this can be sold back to the grid.