The great news is that solar panels are not actually all that expensive, these days you can usually pick up an average solar panel for about £100-£200.
BUT! There are a few more important questions that you need to address if you are considering installing solar panels on your roof top, such as:
- How much will you earn back from the Feed In Tariff?
- Could you alter the system for a better return?
- What size inverter should be used?
- When will be your break-even point?
- How do you apply for the FIT, and are you even eligible?
A few years ago a standard 4kW home solar installation would have set you back around £15,000 but today it would only cost you around £6,000. If you are an extremely frugal person you may wish to do some penny pinching and buy the cheapest possible panels with the cheapest possible inverter and cables, this is not a good idea. The feed in tariff is paid out over 20 years and some of the cheap tat on the market is unlikely to last that long!
What the heck is the Feed In Tariff?
Forget about saving the planet! The number one reason why so many people are having solar kits installed is because of one reason
MONEY
The Feed In Tariff is worth an absolute fortune, and is the primary driving force behind the rapid growth of the solar market.
To be able to claim an income from a feed in tariff provider you will need a up to date EPC (energy performance certificate), an MCS certificate and have already had the system installed and filled out an application form which would have been sent to you by your feed in tariff provider.
It really is a simple process but one you can not do on your own even if you are DIY savvy. To claim the FIT you need an MCS certificate, this means the system MUST have been installed by an MCS accredited installer.
Still thinking of doing it yourself? Well let me help to change your mind… A good system fitted by a qualified and experienced MCS accredited installer could cost you around £6,000, but your return on investment with the feed in tariff over 20 years will around
£19,754
Were you aware that hundreds of rich investors up and down the country are investing in huge solar farms, buying up acres of land but not to waste time building houses for people to live in, simply putting solar panels on the land is far more profitable. Are you beginning to see the big solar picture?
- Lincolnshire - Rich developers plan to install 87,330 solar panels on an 121 acre plot.
- Knebworth - Rich developers are attempting to gain permission to install a 40 acre solar farm.
- Dorset - Rich developers plan to install 112,000 solar panels on an 175 acre plot, this should provide approx. 6,000 homes with electricity and earn themselves an absolute fortune for years to come.
These are just 3 cases picked from news articles posted in the last few days! This is happening all over the UK, why? Because the rich understand how the Feed In Tariff system works.
The most successful method of creating wealth quickly and easily has always been to be a copycat, just find successful people and copy what they are doing.
How Does the FIT Work?
A good size system for a house would be 4kW (approx. 16 panels) this is likely to produce roughly 3,800 kWh of electricity per year.
You get paid a generation tariff on 100% of the electricity that you are expected to produce.
Then you get an additional payment on 50% of the electricity you are expected to produce which is known as the export tariff. Then on top of all that you can factor in the savings from not having to buy electric from the grid – Home solar systems are very lucrative which is why so many installers offer to fit them for free if they can collect the FIT payments.
Notice how we said ‘you are expected to produce’, in order to claim an income from the FIT you MUST have had the system installed by an MCS accredited installer like Celtic Green Energy. They then, using a bunch of sophisticated computer software work out how much electricity your system is expected to produce over the next 20 years! taking into account things like shading and degradation of the system etc.
Today with a standard 4kW Solar Panel Kit you would expect to pay around £6,000 to have it installed – you would then expect to recoup around £19,754 on your investment paid back over the next 20 years. Some even use these payments to cover their mortgage each month.
Understanding the FIT Rates
| System Capacity | Lower Rate | Medium Rate | Higher Rate |
| 4kW or less | 6.38 | 12.94 | 14.38 |
| 4kW-10kW | 6.38 | 11.73 | 13.03 |
| 10kW-50kW | 6.38 | 10.92 | 12.13 |
| 50kW-150kW | 6.38 | 9.31 | 10.34 |
| 150kW-250kW | 6.38 | 8.90 | 9.89 |
| Over 250kW | 6.38 | 6.38 | 6.38 |
| EXPORT TARIFF | 4.77 | 4.77 | 4.77 |
You will only ever be paid on the lower rate if the property that the system is installed on does not have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) or if the EPC shows a rating of under grade D. Medium is only paid when you are already being paid out on 25 previous installations, in all other cases the higher tariff will be paid.
How To Buy Solar Panels with No Money
FREE Solar Deal
Let’s start by getting the most common but pointless solution out of the way… ‘Free Solar – We Rent Your Roof for 20 Years’ OK you have more than likely came across these types of ‘rent your rooftop’ deals from time to time. This deal is purely for the uneducated who are looking to reduce their electricity bill at no cost. The customer gets free electricity and the installer gets £19,000 for a £6,000 installation, winner!
But there are far better solutions for the cash strapped consumer wishing to benefit from having a 4kW solar panel kit installed…
Crowdfunding
On the web there are now lots of crowdfunding sites like indiegogo, kickstarter and crowdcube that allow you to raise finances for any project whether it be charity, business or just for fun. Many people have now successfully used crowdfunding to pay off there mortgage, student debts and also fund the installation of renewable energy products. This is a great opportunity for keen networkers but it is not for everyone as it involves substantial effort in order to drive sufficient traffic to your crowdfunding project before the magic of crowdfunding really kicks in.
Re-finance
This is without doubt the most reliable and simplest way to get the money to cover the cost of your solar panel installation. Whether you re-mortgage your house or take out a small home improvement loan you will find that the little extra on your mortgage or the monthly cost of the personal loan is more than covered by the monthly income provided by the feed in tariff.
Furthermore, the loan plus interest is never going to come anywhere near £19,754 unless you are using a loan shark or wonga loan!
Setting Up Feed In Tariff Payments
Remember: Although you may very well be technically minded enough to installed the system if you are not an MCS accredited installer then you will never see any money from the feed in tariff and your breakeven point from savings alone could take 10 years or even longer!
1. Get an up to date EPC carried out on the property
2. Have your MCS accredited installer fit the solar system and register it on the MCS central database.
3. Contact your chosen FIT provider (this does not have to be your current electricity provider) and ask for an FIT application form.
4. Send your FIT provider a copy of your EPC, MCS certificate and the filled in FIT application form.
5. The FIT provider will then contact you to let you know how much and when you will be paid each month and also if you will need to send them meter readings.
Job done! Yes, it really is that easy… What have you been waiting for? For myself, well I just did not understand how it all worked or just how much you get paid back, once I realised the income potential getting a 4kW solar panel kit installed really was a no brainer.
FIT Reductions
Be warned… The feed in tariff has seen incremental reductions over the years so it makes sense to get these systems installed sooner rather than later.
The next feed in tariff reductions will be made on:
• January 2015 – 3.5% (roughly 0.5p)
• April 2015 – 3.5% (roughly 0.5p)
If you have any questions regarding solar PV or just want to say thanks for a great article then please feel free to comment below, thanks.
