Solar Feed-In Tariff

City & Guilds (C&G) 2399-11

FIT stands for FEED IN TARIFF. This tariff is applied to renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaics (solar PV) and wind turbines which generate electricity. Theses ‘renewables’ reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, which in turn reduce greenhouse gasses, saves on energy bills and feed excess energy back into the national grid for use by others.

To encourage us to take up these renewables and install them into our homes the government has created the FIT scheme. The tariff rates were introduced in April 2010 and paid a set rate for every kW of electricity generated by the renewable energy system, regardless of whether the energy generated is used directly or fed into the grid. The rates are guaranteed for 25 years and are index linked.

The tariff rates are governed by the type of renewable energy source installed and the maximum power it is able to generate. For example, for a 4kW Solar PV installed into a domestic property the owner will receive 43p (at current rates) for every kW generated. For a 4kW system this can, under ideal conditions, provide an income of up to £1400 per annum. The tariffs reduce for larger systems but can still provide a sound financial investment whilst reducing our dependency on fossil fuels.

FITs has attracted larger organisations to exploit these financial incentives by installing large systems of the order of several Megawatts. This had the potential to consume most of the funds set aside by the government to fund the FIT scheme which was primarily aimed at the domestic market. To counter this, the government announced that it would significantly reduce the FIT rate for systems greater that 50kW.

For those systems below 50kW the FIT rates remain unchanged, for now at least. In April 2012 the rates will be revised down originally this was to be by just a few pence per kW. However, in the current financial climate there is the possibility the government could reduce this by a much greater amount which has the potential to kill this growing market before it hardly gets started.

City & Guilds (C&G) 2399-11

We will have to wait and see what the government decides to do but since the FITs were first introduced in April 2010 there has been an unprecedented growth in the solar PV market creating a much needed boost to the electrical contracting sector and associated trades. If the government is to be believed in its statements about encouraging  growth in our stagnating economy, and its commitment to reducing our levels of CO₂ it would do well to leave the FITs as they are and allow the renewable energy sector become a sector for growth and jobs.

An overview on: City & Guilds (C7G) 2399-11

There is no scope of reducing the usage of electricity, as electric appliances makes life easy and better. But we can go for the alternate source of energy that won’t cost as electricity does. Photovoltaic System is getting popular now a days as an alternate source of energy for electric appliances.

A Photovoltaic System is equipped with one or more solar panels, inverters, and all those components which are necessary for generating the alternating current source. So it is always advisable that, to handle such components, one should go for a professional electrical engineer, who has the experience of dealing with such electrical equipments.

It is not easy for a common layman to identify any of the issue related to the photovoltaic equipments; only a professional electrical engineer can identify the issues or the problem in any of the photovoltaic equipments, if there exist any. And will be able to resolve the issues related to such electrical appliances.

Now, if you are intended to be a professional electrical engineer or a professional electrician then you need to get a rigorous training to deal with such complicated appliances.

There are training courses available for the one who wants to work on such complicated and elusive instruments. The course which is basically offered for giving training on the installation, working, testing of such instrument is City & Guilds (C&G) 2399-11 – Installation of Small Scale Solar Photovoltaic Systems, Solar PV Courses. You can have the course and training on City & Guilds (C&G) 2399-11 at Trans Euro Electrotechnical Training and Consultancy.