New reduced FIT rates to arrive 5 months earlier than expected !

It is now in a couple of websites that I have seen that the Feed In Tariff rates will be reduced a lot sooner than originally anticipated.

Most people expected the change to occur in April for the new financial year. However, now the gov't is saying that the pot of money allocated for this scheme is running out quicker than planned.

The scheme was more popular than predicted with domestic installations exploding on the scene as people expected to cash in.

This means that you need to get any new installation signed off by the generating company before the 12th December 2011 to achieve the current rate of 43p/unit generated.

Any installation commissioned after that date (even if you have already paid a deposit with an installer) will drop to just 21p/unit generated.

Of course you will SAVE the same amount of money as you would under the old tariff, but the INCOME will now be less than half of what it was before.

The BBC News website has more on this at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15507750

There may still be other ways in which you can receive payments for using energy efficient or generating systems. Check out the Energy Saving Trusts website which has a database to check out your postcode - http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/

Public display of system output now live

After a bit of frustration and much gnashing of teeth I now have an online presence for The Swamp Electricity Generation Board. The link is here.

The page layout etc. may change as I get more used to the data which is shown. Hopefully these views will be of use to the wider public.

At the moment one of the tabs looks like this -

Update on the numbers so far.

Today's reading on the generation meter is 589.7kWh.

It is 143 days since installation on 19th October 2010.

The average so far is therefore 4.12kWh/day. This average has dropped a little from the review I did on the 2nd Dec 2010 which was at 4.71kWh/day.

At the current FIT rate of 42.8p/kWh this equates to £1.76/day which over the year is £644.22/year.

This does not take into account the amount of energy I use while I'm generating. I have taken to using my washing machine etc. during the day so that my usage is further reduced.

Further reviews will be done until I get a whole year in the bag.

Review of the UK's FIT system earlier than originally expected

According to the website http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn11_010/pn11_010.aspx there will be a review of the FIT's by the end of 2011.

This is due to the fact that large companies are possibly soaking up all the money that was intended for the smaller scale producers such as myself.

There is a note near the bottom which might affect those people thinking about getting in on the act. If you're waiting for improvements to the solar panels etc and hoping to get in before the tariff's go down it might be worth taking this into account.

"The Government will not act retrospectively and any changes to generation tariffs implemented as a result of the review will only affect new entrants into the FITs scheme. Installations which are already accredited for FITs at the time will not be affected."

Solar generation numbers so far ......

Well I have finally returned to The Swamp to a very cold snap.

The generation meter showed 198kWh since the installation was completed. This equates to 42 days (appropriate). So far this means we have an average daily production of 4.71 kWh.

The current rate is 41.3p per unit generated, whether I use it or not. Eon have agreed that they will pay me an extra 3p/unit for 50% of what I generate as part of the FIT.

The equation is 41.3p x units generated + 3p x 50% units generated. 41.3 x 1 x units + 3 x 0.5 x units = 42.8p x units

In money terms, given 41.3p/kWh, and that 50% will get an extra 3p per unit, I have generated approximately £84.74 since connection.

If I use this average generation over a period of 365 days this equates to an annual influx of £735.80. This DOES NOT take into account the amount I save by not buying in this energy.

The weather is obviously not the best, as the days are short and the sun is low in the sky.

I have ordered a meter which should hopefully let me post my daily generation levels on the web LIVE!