Grants & Payback Period
SIGNIFICANT NEW GOVERNMENT INCENTIVES FOR RENEWABLES
“PAYBACK” PERIODS SLASHED
In moves that indicate the government’s seriousness of intent to increase local micro-generation via renewable, or “green” energy installations, two initiatives have recently been announced that make the decision to go green a no-brainer.
Both heat pumps and photo-voltaic panels have come under the spotlight in recent weeks, with lucrative long-term incentives announced or proposed that slash the cost-of-installation pay-back period by years.
The current domestic grants scheme may end on or before the 31st March 2011, so you’ll need to get your skates on if you want to benefit from both the grant and the feed-in tariffs, but the good news for those who have already installed such equipment is that every installation commissioned from July 2009 onwards will qualify for the additional (tax-free) income.
What does this mean in hard cash?
Obviously every building is different and offers different challenges and opportunities, so the following figures are rough guidelines only.
For heat pumps, there is a 2-tier tariff:
Ground source heat pumps will earn 7p per kWh generated, for the next 23 years.
Air source heat pumps will earn 7.5p per kWh generated for the next 18 years.
Both figures are guaranteed, tax-free, and will be INFLATION-LINKED.
For 3/5-bedroom houses, the cash amount generated is likely to be between £1 - 2,000 a year, in addition to the savings made on power consumption by installing the system in the first place – a figure conservatively put at between a half and two-thirds.
For photo-voltaic panels, the feed-in tariff for electricity generated and fed back into the grid is between 28 – 36p per kilowatt hour generated (depending on the size of installation). As an example of what this might mean in a typical 3/5-bedroom house with a 3kWh installation generating 2300 kWh per annum – and costing initially around £12,000 to install – the value of the electricity generated, which is effectively discounted against the power actually used, is likely to be in the region of £1,000 per year.
Combine the two, and you could easily be self-sufficient in energy – if not actually a nett contributor to the grid.
For a more accurate assessment of the costs of such systems and likely payback model for your own property, call Green Living Energy and ask for an initial quotation: telephone 0845 539 0031 or e-mail info@greenlivingenergy.co.uk
Microgeneration Certification Scheme
