Solar Power Grants Welcomes Updates on RHI

The news means that homeowners, businesses and communities will have the opportunity save money and to help the environment.

The RHI will offer a wide scope of renewable technologies for people to benefit from including solar thermal. The scheme will operate much in the same way as the already successful Feed-In Tariff (FIT) and will help accomplish ambitions by the Government to increase the level of heat generation in the UK from renewable sources while lowering the nation’s carbon emissions. But in contrast to the FIT, which only applies to green electricity generation, the RHI is targeted at anyone who installs an accepted technology.

Qualifying technologies include:

* Ground source heat pumps
* Solar thermal
* Biomass heat generation and CHP
* Biomethane injection and biomas combustion, except landfill gas

As part of the RHI anyone who adopts an eligible technology will be able to benefit in three ways:
1) Reduced heating bills
2) Payouts for the heat and hot water you generate
3) Lower carbon emissions

As of July 2011 domestic customers will also be able to benefit from the ‘RHI Premium Payment’.

This is a one off payment available to 25,000 householders in Great Britain who install from this date. The amount for solar thermal for example is £300/unit. Full details of the Premium Payment will be published in May, but recipients of this payment will need to ensure that their home is well-insulated and must agree to give feedback on how their installed equipment performs.

David Holmes, Founder of Solar Power Grants, said: "With a solid deadline for the RHI now in place, property owners can start investigating and adopting renewable energy installations for themselves.

"It is worth remembering that anyone who has installed an operating renewable heat system on their property after July 15, 2009 is eligible to claim this incentive."

www.solarpowergrants.co.uk