Solar panel installations rise as Brits hone in on the sunny side of investing
Solar panel installations are on the increase once again according to The Solar Trade Association (STA) with British home owners and investors honing in on the sunny side of investing and generate attractive returns from their rooftops.
This latest increase is most welcome after a decline, sparked by the UK government reducing the rates on the Feed-in-Tariffs (FiT) for solar photo voltaic (PV) installations which rewards people for solar panel home installation, effectively froze growth across the renewable energy sector last month.
However, although the new revision will see household payments cut from 21p per kWh to 16p, and the length of payments reduced from 25 to 20 years, it seems the government’s announcement to delay the next wave of cuts to solar FiT incentives until August 1st 2012 has encouraged growth with 1,788 solar installations completed in the week ending June 3rd according to provisional figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Marcus Vassiliou, Sales Manager of alternative investment company, EcoInvestments comments,
“Investors may be have been put off investing in UK solar, aware that feed-in tariffs have already been reduced, perhaps worried that they had missed the boat. Now, however, technology has progressed, enabling the price of reliable PV panels to come down to a level where investors can still obtain serious returns. We have sourced a limited number of existing systems in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset where the sunshine is greatest and the maximum amount of electricity is produced thus creating the highest yields so we are encouraging solar panel fans to invest before the new tariff kicks in in August.”
Across the globe, solar energy is going through an extraordinary stage of development looking set to become a significant source of energy for the future. Total investments into solar energy skyrocketed last year jumping 52% to £95bn according to a Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2012 report, which utilised data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, surpassing wind power – usually the biggest single target for renewable investment.
With a limited time to buy into the higher FiT rate, EcoInvestments are offering an average 14.77% annual NET income through the UK Government’s Feed-in Tariff (FiT) from an investment of just £8,000 + 5% VAT.
While income is paid quarterly, increasing in line with inflation (currently 3.5%) as well as being backed by the UK government for 25 years, this totally hands free, passive investment located only in the UK’s sunniest locations offers a return on investment of 269.25%.
Act now before 21st July 2012 to ensure that the solar panels are installed and connected to the grid to get the higher rate FiT.
For more information on solar panel investments contact EcoInvestments today on +44 (0) 20 3012 0306 or visit www.ecoinvestments.co.uk.