Since the Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) scheme started on 1st April 2010 there have been 379,511 solar panel installations fitted of which in excess of 366,000 were fitted to domestic properties. The number of installations seems to be progressing in the right direction.
Are solar panels still worth investing in?
(image credit: ell brown)
Many of you may not be aware that the FIT rate is due to drop on 1st July 2013 from 15.44p per kWh to 14.90p per kWh – a drop of 3.5%. Some of you may recollect that when the FIT scheme was first introduced you would have got 43.3p per kWh – a considerable difference to what is being paid today.
So, is this likely to sway many people in their decision making process who are contemplating whether the installation of solar panels is a sensible move to make from a financial perspective? We think not but feel that it would be a good idea for us to explain why we feel that way.
The compensating factor for the reduction in the FIT scheme has to be the drop in the price people are paying for a solar panel installation. This has also enabled many people to purchase an installation that is capable of producing even more electricity than they had originally intended which also goes some way to compensating for the FIT reduction.
The following figures make interesting reading: –
A 3 kWh system based upon 15.44p per kWh as at 30 June 2013
Total income and savings of £604 per annum
A 3 kWh system based upon 14.90p per kWh from 1 July 2013
Total income and savings of £589 per annum (drop of £15 pa)
A 3.5 kWh system based upon 15.44p per kWh as at 30 June 2013
Total income and savings £706 per annum
A 3.5 kWh system based upon 14.90p per kWh from 1 July 2013
Total income and savings £688 per annum (drop of £18 pa)
Apparently an increasing number of people are having 3.5kWh solar panel systems installed. When you consider that such a system used to cost on average in the region of £12,000 back in 2012 but can now be installed for an average of £7,000 this saving far outweighs the above reduction in the annual income and savings that would be seen even over a 20 year period (£360). Of course, there will no doubt come a point when the price of solar panel systems will drop no further.
