Going Green and Earning Greens with Solar Panels

Solar Panel Incentives

Earning greens has never been easier with the UK government Feed in Tariffs for renewable energy which pay home owners and businesses for every kWh of electricity produced. Commercial solar panel investors can reap tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds every year under the scheme and residential properties can also grab some of the cash incentives.

Going Green and Cashing In

The Feed in Tariff for renewable energy was launched on the 1st of April 2010 to financially incentivize home owners and businesses into using solar panels to produce cleaner and greener electricity. The new scheme also referred to as FITs is aimed at speeding up the race towards grid parity, a point which will see the cost of sustainable energy sources being equal to or less than fossil fuel sourced energy costs. The UK government is prepared to pay home owners or businesses up to 43.3p p/kWh for all electricity generated with solar panels for a period of 25 years. The average home stands to earn more than £1000 tax free every year from solar panels under FITs and the larger the system, the more money can be earned. Energy that is not used is exported to the National Grid and paid for at an extra 3.1p p/kWh.

Small Business Opportunities

The scheme has led many commercial investors to spend millions of pounds in solar parks to generate lucrative cash profits from exporting solar electricity and there is still room for small scale solar investors to build solar panel systems for profit. Many commercial or agricultural building owners can also go green, generate free electricity for their own consumption and also earn substantial amounts of money from the scheme. Solar panel systems below 4kW will earn the most per kWh which indicates that small scale generators can earn greens whilst going green and saving on energy bills.

Residential Cash Profits

Home owners can produce more than a thousand pounds every year by investing in solar panels for their houses. An example of how much can be earned over the full 25 years that FITs pay out for is around £66,000 including savings and earnings from FITs for a 3.7kW solar panel system costing £15,000 from MCS accredited suppliers. Solar panel prices tend to increase with the size of system installed but the returns on investment also increase. A smart way to optimize earnings other than installing a larger system is to make energy saving measures around the home including insulation and the use of energy saving appliances such as LED bulbs. This will mean less energy is used and more is exported to the National Grid earning the extra 3.1p per kWh over and above the 43.3p.