The answer that came was thankfully no, the current Feed-In Tariff would not be affected. However it was suggested that the existing high levels of tariff may not be around forever. The Feed-In Tariff was introduced in April 2010 and at present is set at 41.3p per kWh for a solar PV system that is 4kWp or smaller. This tariff is scheduled to have its first review in April 2012, with the first reductions taking effect from April 2013.
Following the spending review, the current tariff level of 41.3p per kWh remains the same, however there were hints that this may be reduced sooner than expected. It was announced that future tariff reviews could be brought forward if there was a ‘higher than expected deployment’ of solar PV across the UK. What this means is if lots of people rush to install solar panels in the next year then the Government may consider reducing the Feed-In Tariff before its scheduled review in April 2012. As of yet it remains to be seen what figures would constitute a ‘higher than expected deployment.’
So what does this mean for people who are thinking of installing solar panels? For those who have already had their solar panels installed, they will not be affected by future reductions. This is because once a solar PV system has been installed and commissioned it is locked into the tariff level current at that time and guaranteed for 25 years. For those who are thinking about investing in solar panels now, it would be wise to have them installed sooner rather than later in order to benefit from the highest tariff levels. This is good news for installers, as they now have a very strong argument for encouraging people to install solar panels now!