Getting Paid to Produce Renewable Energy

In the current economic climate the ability to earn extra income, become self-sufficient and reduce your carbon footprint and energy bills could appear to be a contradiction in terms. Surely installing solar panels, for example, on the roof of your house is going to cost, not make money?

This is where the government's Feed-In Tariffs (FITs) are designed to make it worth your while to produce renewable electricity.

Selling excess energy from your solar panels into the UK National Grid could net you as much as £1,000. 

Essentially the FIT system is designed as an incentive for energy producers to move away from conventional fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.

Essentially, it is government legislation which guarantees a fixed, premium rate for renewable electricity fed into the national grid. The power companies are obliged by government legislation to buy the renewable electricity, with additional costs passed onto the customers.

As many as half of Britain's homes could earn around £600 a year from roof top solar panels and some as much as £1000, according to Britain's biggest energy supplier, British Gas.

Research carried out by the company suggests that over 12m households have roofs that could benefit from solar panels, which use photovoltaic (PV) cells to capture and convert the sun's energy into electricity, and could produce enough electricity for up to half their household needs.

The UK is on course to meet its 2020 renewables target. A new report from the National Grid has published these exciting findings and statistics on the proposed uptake of microgeneration, with people producing their own power using technology such as solar panels.

A capacity of 31,950 megawatts of existing and proposed renewable energy generation will be connected over the next ten years. Around 4,950 megawatts of renewable generation capacity is already connected to the transmission network, with proposed projects this year totalling a further 27,000 megawatts.

This means there would be enough to power more than 20m homes and would surpass the 29,000 megawatts estimated by the National Grid that would be needed to meet the 2020 target of 15% of the country's total energy demand through renewable energy.

However, the report cautions that the figures are only a step in the right direction and a complete reform of the market is the only way to ensure the right conditions for investment in future projects.

But if Solar PV panels turn the sun's abundant, clean energy into electricity that you can use for free in your home, then by installing solar panels you can significantly reduce your electricity bill and even generate a worthwhile income thanks to the FIT scheme.

And if you buy a solar PV system you will be paid for all the electricity you generate, whether you use it yourself or sell any excess to the National Grid. For a typical household installing a 4kwp system the annual savings and income can be worth well over £1,700.

Source: www.guardian.co.uk