AS BRITISH Gas announces further bill hikes, there has never been more reason to invest in solar.
The country’s biggest power supplier looks set to increase householders' bills by up to £100 a year, possibly tipping residents into fuel poverty, and other company’s look set to follow suit.
A spokesperson from The Eco Experts, the UK’s renewable energy specialists, said: “As more and more people struggle to pay their energy bills, we suggest now is the perfect time to look at getting your energy from solar PV panels.
“Not only is it great for the environment, it also means the energy you use is completely free. You are paid a generation tariff for the energy you use and an export tariff for any energy you don’t use that is then exported back to the grid.
“On top of this, prices of PV modules are coming down and down, and are not the unobtainable asset they once were, as long as you have a south facing roof you can start saving and making money within a few days.
“Solar provides a return-on-investment of about 8%, which is higher than the bank, and your panel can be paid off in about twelve years. We encourage householders to look at is as a serious investment and a way to avoid the inevitable further rises of energy bills.”
British Gas said they were forced to increase their charges for a series of reasons including higher National Grid costs, increases in the price of wholesale gas and government policy which makes suppliers undertake more environmental and social initiatives than before.
Reza Shaybani, the chairman of the British Photovoltaic Association (BPVA) said the government should do more to support the solar and renewables industry, so UK consumers did not have to rely on mineral energy anymore.
He added: “Solar PV is a clean, cheap and secure source of energy. Politicians say you can’t have all three, but we say you can and PV can deliver. “
Feed-in-Tariff explained:
The Feed-in-tariff is a government scheme that helps you (or your company) save money in three ways if you generate your own energy.
- Firstly, you save money by not paying electricity bills , because you have created your own energy.
- Secondly the energy company will pay a generation tariff (16p per kWh ) which is a small sum paid per kW whether the energy is used by you or not.
-Thirdly the energy company will then pay you an export tariff of 4.5p after per kW for all energy not used that they can than export back to their grid.
