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Can I get solar panels for my office?

Our energy expert says...

This is a popular topic at the moment but it’s important you know what options are available to you before making any decisions.

The government offers a scheme to encourage eligible households to install solar panels on their roofs and generate their own electricity.

These are called feed-in tariffs, and essentially you could be paid up to around £920 a year to generate electricity.

To get the panels installed in the first place, however, will cost you around £12,000, but you should make your money back within 15 years.

Feed-in tariffs

Since April 2010, the government, in conjunction with the major energy suppliers, has been offering feed-in tariffs.

With this scheme, people who produce their own electricity via solar panels or wind turbines and put it back onto the National Grid could earn up to £920 a year.

Energy suppliers will pay participating households a set amount of money for the energy they produce, whether they use it for themselves or not.

The energy companies will then make an extra payment for the unused electricity which is transported back onto the grid.

So there are three main ways to make money with the scheme:

1. Generation tariff – a set rate paid by the energy supplier for each unit (or kWh) of electricity you generate. This rate will change each year for new entrants to the scheme (except for the first two years), but once you join you will continue on the same tariff for 25 years. At the moment the standard rate is up to 41.3p per kilowatt hour (kWh) generated.
2. Export tariff - you will receive a further 3p/kWh from your energy supplier for each unit you export back to the electricity grid.
3. Energy bill savings – you will also be making savings on your electricity bills, because generating electricity to power your appliances means you don’t have to buy as much electricity from your energy supplier.

The Energy Saving Trust has a calculator which you can use to see how much you could earn with one of these tariffs: http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Cashback-Calculator

Remember that tariff levels vary depending on the scale of the installation. Also make sure your installation is registered under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), so that you will be eligible for the scheme in the first place.

Free installation of solar panels

In regards to whether you can get help towards the installation costs of the panels, there are a number of providers who offer free installation.

Be warned however, these are also known as rent-a-roof schemes and if you accept the free installation you will also be relinquishing your entitlement to the feed-in tariff.

Basically, in most cases the company that installs the solar panels will expect to receive the income from the generation and export tariffs.

You will still benefit from cheaper energy bills, but you will normally need to fulfil a number of other requirements as well.

For example, with a lot of schemes you must have a south facing roof which is at least 24 square metres.

The schemes also tend to require you to keep the panels on the roof for the next 25 years, with no option to get rid of them during that time.

Also if you wanted to sell the premises during the 25 years then the new owner would have to agree to keep the panels on for the duration of the contract as well.

All the companies have different conditions, so if you go down this route, make sure you do some decent research first.

Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)

Incidentally, the government has also recently announced the details of its Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, which is to be launched next year.

Similar to feed-in tariffs, with the RHI you will get paid for the renewable energy you produce.

Please see our guide on the new RHI here.

You will not be able to claim the tariff until June 2011. However, any system that was installed after 15 July 2009 will be able to claim the Renewable Heat Incentive when it goes live.

I hope this helps with your decision.

* Calculated at 2.369 kWh x 21p – the average amount of energy generated plus 1184.5 kWh x 3.1p – the amount of electricity fed into the grid. Payments for Solar PV panels for the electricity you generate and use began in April 2010 as part of the Government's Feed-in Tariffs Rate from 1st April 2012 21 p/kWh used onsite and an additional 3.1 p/kWh used for export. Rate applies only to installations fitted to or wired to a dwelling with an energy efficiency rating within rating bands A to D. 50/50% split between electricity used onsite and excess exported back to the grid on a typical export tariff. Unit price used in calculation representative of the average p/kWh charge, as derived from the annual bills at industry average consumption of 16,500 kWh for gas and 3,300 kWh for single rate electricity, paying by Monthly Direct Debit on British Gas' Standard Tariff prices as at 11th January 2012, averaged across all regions and including VAT. 50% onsite consumption number sourced from the Feed-in Tariffs (Specified Maximum Capacity and Functions) Order 2010. The figures do not take into account any maintenance, repair or other costs required during the 25 year period. Correct as at 1st April 2012.

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