District Wide March 2011 - Huntingdonshire District Council

Advertisement Feature
Courtesy of East mag
Greener environment Sound InVESTMEnT
We visited an installation of PV Solar Energy Panels in Comberton,
Cambridgeshire, to learn more about the eco friendly green energy
source that saves money on electricity plus can return 12% per
annum on the investment.
Ian McFarlane, who owns the house in
Comberton, had solar panels installed in
his home and revealed to us how easy the
process was. “The installation was surprisingly
simple, he told us. “It was all completed in just
under 3 hours and we are very pleased with
the results. The panels were fixed to the rear
of the garage roof because of being south
facing and for us, the advantage of not being
seen from the front of the house.”
Not only is Mr McFarlane’s installation
helping the environment, he is also benefiting
from some convincing financial incentives.
“We are expecting to save around 50% on our
electricity bills,” he says. “But more important
is the Government tax free ‘Feed In Tariff
Scheme’ (FIT) that should yield an estimated
£1,200-£1,400 per year for the next 25 years.”
Once the panels are fixed to the roof,
cables are connected to the Inverter box that
converts the power from DC to AC, for the
electricity mains in the house.
The electricity sourced by the solar
panels, if not consumed by the home as it is
produced, is fed back into the National Grid,
Inverter
box
hence the Feed In Tariff.
Mr McFarlane had chosen the 4kw system,
as that is the most common choice and the
most efficient for the rebate, however you
can choose less panels and still benefit from
the FIT.
All installers of solar panels now have
to be government approved, via the MCS
(Microgeneration scheme), providing added
assurance for homeowners
An average house installation is between
£10,000-£12,000 in total, however, receiving
around £1,250 per year over 25 years from
the FIT scheme and the electricity savings,
there is no question that this is a sound
investment.
Paul Shiels, founder and co-owner of
Biggleswade-based company G.R.E.E.N.
Ltd explains how the market is showing
incredible growth...
Average installation cost is around
12K. We have over the past three
months generated around 60 sales
averaging around five a week. First
week in February generated 8 sales.
The market is envisaged to reach
250,000 installs by 2012. The tariff
budget allocated for the FIT is 400
million up to December 2012. That’s an
awful lot of installs.
The FIT started April 2010, it runs for
25 years. It is both index linked and tax
free for domestic homes. Commercial
buildings are not exempt from tax. VAT
is set at 5% on domestic installs and
at the standard 20% for commercial
buildings.
It is likely that the Government will
restrict joining the FIT once satisfactory
numbers have been reached. This was
the case in most European countries.
Germany, the worlds largest solar user,
restricted the FIT after six years. This
means that all those already joined still
enjoy their 25 year bonanza but no-one
else can join.