London-based solar installer, Joju Solar, has announced that it is unfazed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) latest round of feed-in tariff cuts which are dominating the headlines.
The solar specialist points to the rising cost of electricity and the falling cost of solar as the main reason for industry to take heart. The current trend means that, especially for commercial applications, solar PV is the cheapest way of supplying electricity to a building.
“The feed-in tariff is becoming a smaller and smaller proportion of the benefits of a solar system,” said Dr. Chris Jardine, Technical Director, Joju Solar.
“Increasingly, the value of solar comes from not importing electricity from one of the big suppliers at rates that are just going to go up and up is where the real benefit lies.”
“Therefore, the cuts in feed-in tariffs although they grab headlines, are actually masking the real story which is that there are remarkable savings to be made from putting solar on your roof.”
“Solar PV, particularly for many companies, is the cheapest way of supplying electricity to a building.”
Many in the UK solar industry believe that the succession of deep cuts to the feed-in tariff have not only damaged investor confidence but also left consumers feeling that solar no longer provides value – after all, the FiT rate paid for domestic installations has fallen by over 60 percent in less than a year. However, costs associated with solar have also plummeted allowing a similar return on investment that early adopters enjoyed.