500 Council Homes in Cambridge to Get Solar Panels. Shouldn’t Yours?

The South Cambridgeshire District Council had thought they’d get in on the solar panels gold rush by installing solar PV systems on 2,300 council homes, but when the Government slashed the FiTS without notice in November, they backed off the plans.  However, after a new study of the possibilities and economics has renewed the plan and it’s back on. The district council has announced that it wants to install solar panels on as many as 500 properties where the roof space and orientation will generate the most electricity.

The solar panels will be paid for and installed by the end of March by Savills Solar. Participating households will have free electricity during the day, and any surplus electricity generated by the solar panels will be sold to the electric companies to pay for the project.

Savills Solar will pay for and fit the panels by the end of March, with electricity being available to households for free during the day, and the surplus being sold to pay for the project. The 500 tenant households that will be part of the solar panels project are expected to save at least £150 on their fuel bills annually. The council’s cabinet member for housing expressed frustration that the benefit couldn’t be more widespread, but says that he is pleased that the council and the solar PV company were able to find a way forward.

The change in plans was made necessary by the recent announcement by the UK government that the subsidy rates provided by the Feed-in Tariff Scheme would be reduced by 50 percent from 43.3p to 21.1p.

Thousands of property owners jumped into the fray to take advantage of the high subsidies for solar panels – among the highest tariffs in the EU. The enthusiastic response, coupled with the unexpectedly rapid drop in the prices of solar panels and solar PV installation, swamped the financial means of the tariff program and, according to ministers, endangered its existence. Reducing the tariff rate, officials explain, brings the return on solar panels back into line with original expectations and increases the number of people who can benefit from it.

As the South Cambridgeshire Council discovered, the reduced tariff rate is still a profitable proposition for many homes. The homes chosen to be part of the solar panels installation program will see savings of over £150 annually, and take in more than that amount through a combination of tariffs and selling off the excess electricity.

The revenue from solar panels amounts to between 25 and 30 quid a month when you count in the tariffs and the savings. If you could find a better use for that kind of money than to shovel it at your electricity supplier, contact a solar panels installer in your area and request a consult to find out if your roof is a suitable location for a solar PV system.