Everyone engaged in property matters will have come across the installation of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, in order to reduce electricity consumption from the grid and to take advantage of Government’s feed- in tariff (FiT) scheme. Social landlords and local authorities are making moves to undertake feasibilities and to commission installations, some with a wary eye on Government’s review of the FiT tariffs in April 2012. A key issue for their feasibility thinking is whether to self-fund installations or to do so via a third party, also known as the ‘rent-a-roof’ option.
