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Tag: Solar Pv (page 1 of 2)

Solar PV comes of age – Grid parity for solar photovoltaics in Spain today

With the drop in the supply price of solar panels, the cost of installations, a LOT more sun (than England) and the much higher electricity prices now means that an economic investment can be made in Solar PV without the need for Feed-in-Tariff or Renewable Energy Obligation support . Of course that is at the industrial scale! – In just one province – Murcia in South East Spain – they plan to install 2.5GW of solar PV – that’s 10 times more than they did in the last two years alone.

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Feed-in Tariff tables from 1st August 2012 (until 1st November 2012)

 

Band (kW) Prior to August 1st
(Single Installation)
Standard generation tariff
(p/kWh)
Multi-installation tariff
(p/kWh)
Lower tariff
(if energy efficiency requirement not met)
(p/kWh)
Period of Tariff
(Years)
•4kW (new build)
21.0
16.0
14.4
7.1
20
•4kW (retrofit)
21.0
16.0
14.4
7.1
20
>4-10kW
16.8
14.5
13.05
7.1
20
>10-50kW
15.2
13.5
12.15
7.1
20
>50-100kW
12.9
11.5
10.35
7.1
20
>100-150kW
12.9
11.5
10.35
7.1
20
>150-250kW
12.9
11.0
9.9
7.1
20
>250kW-5MW
8.9
7.1
N/A
N/A
20
stand-alone
8.9
7.1
N/A
N/A
20
Export
3.2
4.5
4.5
4.5
20

So what does this mean to business and commercial installations?

It depends upon who you do business with.

Worcester Renewables buys direct from the manufacturers, and with 4 – 6 week lead times between purchase and delivery our prices are already determined for post 1st August, and whether your purchase before or after 1st August you will still see an ROI, index linked of 10% year on year.  However if you can install before the  1st August you will benefit from those payments for 25 years, as opposed to a reduced 20 years.

We also have funding available for a number of sites, so if you believe that you have a property that may be suitable for the installation of Solar PV, then just fill in the form below and we’ll get straight back to you:

DECC confirms FIT (Feed-in Tariff) changes to be 1st August

At the Ministerial announcement in the House of Commons today, Greg Barker laid out plans for the changes to the Feed-in Tariff to apply from the 1st August 2012

Changes to solar Feed-in Tariffs

Tariffs for solar pv installations to be reduced from 1 August:

  • 16p/kWh for household scale solar pv installations to reflect fall in cost of the technology, delivering a return of about 6% for a typical installation.
  • Tariffs for larger installations also to be reduced to reflect cost reductions but with most tariff cuts lower than proposed in February.
  • Reductions to apply to new installations from 1 August, instead of 1 July as proposed, in recognition of low uptake from 1 April and providing time for industry to adapt.

Multi installation tariff increased to 90% of standard tariff

  • Organisations with more than 25 solar pv installations will get 90% of the standard applicable tariff, increased from 80%, reflecting new evidence on costs involved for these projects.

Reduction in tariffs over time in line with uptake of FITs scheme

  • Ensuring solar PV is not over subsidised.
  • Average tariff reductions of 3.5% every 3 months, reductions will be bigger (up to 28%) if there is rapid uptake.
  • Tariff cuts will be skipped (for up to 2 quarters) if uptake is low.
  • Uptake in 3 different bands (domestic (size 0-10kW), small commercial (10-50kW) and large commercial (above 50kW and standalone installations) will determine the quarterly reductions within those bands.

Increase export tariff from 3.2p to 4.5p/kWh

  • To better reflect the real value of electricity exported to the grid.

RPI index-linking of generation tariffs to be retained

  • Reflecting the high value investors place on this element of the FITs scheme.

Scheme lifetime reduced from 25 to 20 years for new solar installations

  • Reducing the lifetime costs of the scheme and bring solar in line with most other technologies supported under FITs.

Tariffs for installations which do not meet the energy efficiency requirements will mirror the tariffs for standalone installations

  • Ensuring energy efficiency is still encouraged as tariffs are reduced.

Turmoil over Feed in Tariff Rates Cuts for 2012

Businesses considering installing Solar PV are all rushing to install before March 2012, though for some even that may be too late.

At a meeting at the House of Commons today between industry representatives, the Government reiterated its position on the Comprehensive Feed in Tariff review.

Rachel Solomon-Williams, Head of the Feed-in Tariff Review confirmed today that the Comprehensive Review is underway in the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), although she was unable to confirm details of when it would be revealed, or what the rates will look like.

It was however established that DECC has to operate within the Treasury-imposed, fixed envelope. It was made clear that if this budget overruns, the funding will need to come from DECC, for which, unfortunately, there is no budget.

She also reiterated that there are no planned changes before April 1, 2012 “unless earlier action is deemed necessary,”

And it is the fact that the Government consistently keep repeating that phrase at ever more frequent intervals that is causing major unease with potential customers.

After all, many still remember that phrase from the recent fast-track review, which ended in tariff rates as low as 8.5p for large scale projects, the concern is that all project over 10kWp could now also be affected and the rate drop  to a similar level.

Whilst the Government wouldn’t be pushed further, the chatter in the room and the corridors afterwards was that the most likely outcome was a 10% cut on the first band up to 4kWp, possibly the same up to 10kWp, a heavier reduction (and a new band) between 10kWp and 20kWp and a swingeing reduction for the 20kWp to 50Kwp sized systems. The chatter also suggested that the upper end of the cuts may be introduced as early as January 2012, in the same way that the Fast Track review effectively killed off all the projects over 50kWp, a rapid implementation of a >20kWp band would effectively kill off nearly all the commercial schemes currently under consideration, meaning that the only place left to install Solar PV was homes and small businesses.

Hence the rush to get systems installed before the end of this year.

Watch this space..

If you are thinking of Solar PV, – it’s time to stop thinking and act – NOW

If you’ve been considering Solar Photovoltaic (PV) for your home or business, then with the planned changes being brought forward, then it really is time to act NOW. As the saying goes Act Now or Regret at Leisure (sic).

Too many times in life we say “If only I’d” or “I could have”, or “They were lucky”.

Back in February 2011, the Government announced a Strategic review of the Feed-in Tariff Scheme, aka FiTS or FiT. that review was originally scheduled to be delivered at the beginning of 2012 (January) with implementation form March 2012, and at the time it was widely believed that it would result in a slightly large increase in the degradation rates of the Feed-In Tariff Scheme, i.e the rates would go down.

Well early indications from Greg Barker are that it will do far far more than that.  FiTS was NEVER intended as an investment vehicle for pension funds, in lieu of Tax free ISA’s as the like, well in the case of Solar PV, that is EXACTLY what it has become.

Over the past 2 years the cost of the materials associated with the installation of a Solar PV has fallen dramatically and Solar panels have in the wholesale market place now become a commodity as opposed to a specialist item, with even main-stream electrical distributors stocking all the parts for a solar PV installation. The effect of this is that the capital  cost of installing a 4kWp system has fallen from around £20,000 to less than £14,000 and 50kWp systems have fallen from £250,000 to around £125,000 – £150,000.

So what has that got to do with you? As I mentioned above, the original purpose of FiTS as stated on the Government’s website is:

Through the use of FITs DECC hope to encourage deployment of additional small scale (less than 5MW) low carbon electricity generation, particularly by organisations, businesses, communities and individuals who have not traditionally engaged in the electricity market. This will allow many people to invest in small scale low carbon electricity, in return for a guaranteed payment for the electricity they generate and export.

It was never supposed to be what it has become – the most lucrative investment opportunity in the UK.

The problem is that the Government has changed it’s tune, in the early days they were happy to promote it, as you can see in our download : Worcester Renewables – Free Guide to Investing in Solar PV Greg Barker was more than happy to encourage people to invest in Solar PV when he said

“Feed-in Tariffs provide some of the best secure investment returns available in the market”
Greg Barker, Climate Change Minister

Well, a lot of people took his advice, and the effect was a massive increase in the take up of solar PV – just what he wanted!

However all FiTS payments despite being paid by the electricity companies from a surcharge on all electricity bills is under EU rules considered Government expenditure, and with Strategic Spending Reviews in place, Greg Barker had to cut expenditure in this area. The catch 22 situation here is that cutting FiTS immediately stats to undermine the whole Government Green / Renewables investment strategy and may cause them problems with meeting their EU renewables targets.

So what did they do – First the launched the Strategic Review – what was supposed to be a year long exercise looking at the fundamental structure of the FiTS – and secondly the launched an emergency review which came into force in August and promptly killed of all the large scale solar PV investment.

Well the Strategic Review is about to be published – most sources are suggesting mid October, and the outcome is expected to be swift and hard, the key things are a MASSIVE CUT in FiTS payments to new Solar PV installations, and instead of waiting until April 2012, it is anticipated that this could come in as soon as JANUARY 2012, even back in August, I was predicting that it could go as low as 30p / kWh (for =< 4kWp systems) compared to the current 43.3p / kWh – and that would be in line with the above (£14,000 / £20,000 x 43.3p = 30.3p), some people are predicting it could go as low as 26p / kWh.

The time to act therefore is NOW – don’t delay for a free quotation click here: Request Your FREE No-Obligation Quote

To find out just how LUCRATIVE the current scheme is – and to see how much you will earn from the FITS – Click here: Energy Saving Trust – CashBackCalculator

For more background information on how rapidly this area of FiTS see these recent articles:

Worcester Renewable Tweets with Greg Barker

The new FiT, prices and the future for solar in the UK: Part 1

Worcester Renewables Ltd is an MCS Registered Installer of Solar PV systems and installs both Domestic and Commercial Systems, and is registered with and bound by the REAL consumer code.

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