Feed In Tariff Scheme (FITs)

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On 1st April 2010, the UK Government launched the Feed-in Tariff (FITs) or “Clean Energy Cashback” Scheme.

FITs is a great way to make money from excess electricity generated by your solar pv system. It offers a guaranteed tax free minimum payment from energy suppliers for the green electricity you produce. You receive a payment for all of the electricity that your system generates; even if you use that energy yourself!

The Feed In Tariff scheme is an incentive for households and green communities to invest in installing renewable technology.   By generating their own electricity from renewable technologies, such as small wind turbines and solar panels, households and green communities are entitled to a guaranteed minimum payment from their energy supplier for the electricity they produce.

This is in addition to separate payments for the electricity which is exported to the grid and the bill savings made by generating electricity on-site. The FITs has a range of tariff prices for each technology and is guaranteed for up to 25 years tax free (to domestic clients) and index linked offering around a 7% return on your investment annually.

For example, the power from a solar panel could earn up to £900 a year in addition to a £140 saving on the household energy bill.

In return, the low carbon power being generated and sold back to suppliers helps Government meet renewable energy targets.

Those eligible for FITs benefit through:

Generation tariffs

You receive a set rate payment  from your energy supplier for each unit (or kWh) of electricity you generate.

Export tariffs

You receive a further payment from your energy supplier for each unused unit of electricity that you export back to the electricity grid.

Energy bill savings

Your electricity bills will be reduced as the electricity you generate is used to power your appliances, rather than having to buy it from an energy supplier.

Eligibility for FITs

The following small-scale (up to 5 Mega Watts) low-carbon electricity technologies are eligible for FITs:

  • Solar electricity (PV) (roof mounted or stand alone)
  • Wind turbine (building mounted or free standing)
  • Hydroelectricity
  • Anaerobic digestion
  • Micro combined heat and power (mCHP) (limited to a pilot at this stage)

The tariffs available and the process for receiving them vary, depending on when the technology was installed, and whether the system and the installer were certificated under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) scheme.

Commercial clients are advised to check their tax status for this kind of income as they may be required to pay corporation tax on FIT income.

How to register

When your system is installed we will register your installation with the scheme and then you can approach a power company such as Good Energy to sell them your electricity.

More information

Contact us for further information on the FITs.

Or visit the following useful websites: