A new scheme to reward people who produce their own electricity could generate up to £1,000 a year per household.
Solar panel companies say they've seen a huge increase in enquiries since the scheme was announced in February. Does it make financial sense?
Earlier this year the government announced details of its scheme designed to reward individuals and businesses for generating their own electricity. According to government figures, the feed in tariff (or ‘clean energy cashback scheme’ as it’s also known) could save the average family £140 a year in energy bills and generate around £900 a year from surplus electricity. But you have to offset that against the cost of installing solar panels, wind turbines or ground source heat pumps in the first place. So – from a financial point of view - is it worth generating your own energy?
If you’ve just received your water bill, you may be keen to cut the costs. Is a water meter the answer?
Around a third of homes have a water meter and while you may be able to save money with one, not all households qualify.
The rise in the number of households with just one or two people has meant that many could save money by having a water meter installed. If you don’t have a water meter, your bill is based on the rateable value of your property, which takes account of factors such as its size and location (in Scotland, it’s based on your council tax band). With a water meter, you pay for the water you use, plus a fixed amount for standing charges. So could you save money with one?
From April, households will be paid for electricity that they generate. But is generating your own energy really a money saver?
Already thousands of people have solar panels on their homes, but the government wants more of us to generate green energy. From April that figure is likely to rise, after the government announced how much it would pay people to produce their own electricity. It’s set a minimum tariff of up to 41.3p for a unit of electricity for new solar panel ‘converts’, but less if you’ve been generating your own energy for some time. It says that, under the scheme, householders could receive hundreds of pounds a year. So how does the maths add up?
