Go Green, Get Cash
In April 2010 the government began paying households for the green electricity they made. This is how the scheme was explained at launch.
Editor’s note. This article describes the scheme as it opened in April 2010. The Feed-in Tariff closed to new applicants on 31 March 2019; existing installations keep their payments. New solar owners are now paid for exported power under the Smart Export Guarantee, and the Renewable Heat Incentive mentioned below has also closed to new households.
Photo: Stephen Craven via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
The government will pay individual homes, businesses and communities for generating green electricity from renewable energy systems on their property. This includes solar panels and small hydro and wind turbines up to 5MW. It is known as the Clean Energy Cashback scheme or Feed-in Tariffs (FIT), and it starts on 1 April 2010.
The aim of the payments is to entice more people to install these clean microgenerators. The UK gets about 5.5% of its electricity from renewable sources, ranking it 25th out of 27 EU countries.
Eligible technologies and how you earn
You can get the payments for installing wind turbines, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, hydroelectricity, anaerobic digestion and, as a pilot, non-renewable micro-CHP.
- You can use the electricity you generate yourself, so you don't have to pay a supplier for it.
- Your electricity supplier pays you for each unit you generate, whether you use it or not.
- You send any electricity you don't use back to the grid and get paid an export tariff for it.
You will be paid directly by your existing electricity supplier, with the payments overseen by the regulator Ofgem. You can still import electricity from the grid when you need it. Tariffs will rise in line with inflation, and from 1 April 2012 the rates will decrease each year for new entrants. The tariffs apply to England, Wales and Scotland.
Getting involved
- Decide which technology suits your home, using the Energy Saving Trust's advice.
- Check with your energy supplier that you would be eligible and note any conditions.
- Install the technology using products and installers approved by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).
- Once installed, notify your energy supplier and start receiving payments.
Installing these technologies can be expensive, and some campaigners have criticised the payments as too low, especially for installations completed before 15 July 2009. Owners of those older systems must transfer or accredit them to be paid.
