The rise in Solar Panels around Cambridge

The rise in Solar Panels around Cambridge

In April 2010 the government launched its feed-in-tariff scheme. Since then,there has been a dramatic increase in the number of solar panels appearing across the Great Britian.

As an installer of solar panels in England, I find it interesting to see what type of areas contains early adopters' when it comes to solar energy - and who have been the first to invest.

The government's feed-in-tariffs offer homeowners and business between 8-10% return on investment if they purchase PV solar panels. To explain this further, let's take an example: imagine you were a homeowner who has savings of 10,000. And, at the current low rates of interest, you are earning just 2% interest on your savings. By investing your savings into solar panels for your home you will earn around 1000 tax free each year (guaranteed for 25 years) from the feed-in-tariffs. Additionally, once you add this to the 35% reduction in your electricity bills, it becomes a no-brainer.

But, if this deal is so good, then why have we not seen more solar panels appearing everywhere? Well, part of the answer to that lies in the demographics of an area. One of the main criticisms of the feed-in-tariffs is that it gives money to those people who have thousands of pounds in savings to invest in the first place.

As someone who installs solar panels all over the east of England, I know there is certainly some truth to this. Of all the places I've worked, Cambridge seems to be taking the lead in terms of volume of Solar Panels on rooftops. For those of us who know Cambridge, and its demographics, this is not entirely surprising.

However, I'm do not believe it will last. While the early adopters my be those with money put away, big investment into solar panels will soon be coming from local authorities. Last year Birmingham City Council committed to installing solar panels into all of its council houses. Here in the east, Norwich City Council are planning to do the same to 5000 of their housing stock, as well as a number of their council buildings. Despite the cuts, local authorities can dip into capital reserves to create more revenue - thus offsetting the reduction in grants from central government. In short, it still makes financial sense despite the cuts.

We're beginning to see a massive increase in the number of solar panels appearing across our towns and cities. While there may be a clear increase in cities like Cambridge, others will soon follow.

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