News Article
FiT Still Delivers Domestic Bliss
Despite the FiT fiasco in the UK the opportunity still exists for small scale opportunities
With summer in full swing, the plants are blooming at Hill Close Garden Centre in Warwick, but manager Chris Begg is capitalising on the sun in another way too: his centre has become one of the latest small businesses to switch on to solar power, provided by an array of photovoltaic panels.
“With all the controversy surrounding the FIT (Feed in Tariff) rates for large installations in recent months, many small and medium enterprises, and community organisations have mistakenly thought they wouldn't benefit from installing PV (photovoltaic) panels,” said Mr Lee Summers, Director of EOS Energy, Britain's fastest growing solar power company.
Mr Summers explained that only large installations generating more than 50kw of power were affected by the Government's review which would bring in lower FITs. Domestic and small business installations that did not require such a large capacity can still generate a FIT income along with electricity.
“Mr Begg's garden centre has a 17-panel installation on its flat roof which cost £12,968, he can expect a return on this investment of around 14% year on year,” said Mr Summers.
Mr Begg is so delighted with his renewable energy array that he's planning to provide safe access to his roof so visitors can view the PV panels and see solar power in action.
He is not the only satisfied solar customer who is turning a PV installation into a visitor attraction. Councillor Dave Wise in Southam (the town where EOS Energy is based) had panels installed on the roof of his house and declares that “the interest from people has been phenomenal, people are always asking to come and see the system on my roof, and I'm more than happy to oblige.”
Mr Summers said EOS was leading the way in small to medium sized solar power installations because of its quick, tidy and efficient work, and the fact that the company handles every aspect of getting a system up and running, including planning applications (if required), the paper-work for claiming the FIT, and superb after-sales customer service.
“We believe whole-heartedly in photovoltaic energy as the way forward, and we do all in our power to make renewable energy easy."
