ROI on solar panels

Stockport energy efficiency experts Bosci believe changes in legislation means people will wait longer to see an ROI on solar panels.

But managing director Paul Abbott says making houses and businesses more ‘energy efficient’ is still the best way forward.

Under the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) subsidy scheme, households that install panels are paid for the electricity they are estimated to use and ‘export tariffs’ for the surplus electricity sold back to the grid.

They can also expect to save on their energy bills by avoiding buying electricity.

But ministers announced a consultation in August with plans to cut rooftop solar subsidies by almost 90 per cent from the new year.

Mr Abbott said: “The reality is it may take two or three years longer to see a payback under the scheme.

“But it’s likely the products will also get cheaper over the next few years.

“When we go in to a firm, we assess the whole building – heating, lighting, windows – and suggest the best ways to reduce energy usage.

“Reducing energy consumption has to be the way to go.”

The Solar Trade Association says on its website: “We believe that the government’s underlying justification for the dramatic cuts is flawed.

“It is counting the cost of renewable energy subsidy schemes towards the electricity bills of ‘hard-working families’ through the Levy Control Framework (LCF) but it is failing to recognise and account for the bill reductions those very same technologies produce by reducing wholesale electricity costs.”