2. Reduction in Council Tax if renewables installed
There is no bill currently going through Parliament. We have spoken to DECC which has advised that this is being discussed but no firm plans for its introduction have been made yet.
3. Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and existing projects
Under the consultation, the Government has proposed to treat projects where installation was completed after 15 July 2009 as if they were installed on the first day of the scheme (expected to be 1 April 2011) and therefore entitled to receive the incentive. Schemes installed before this date will not receive the incentive. Any increase in capacity would be eligible for RHI support as if it were a new installation. New installations would also be eligible where they replace existing installations, but refurbishment, repair or conversion of equipment would not create any RHI entitlement beyond that which was in place before such works were carried out (with the exception of conversion of domestic heating oil boilers to use bioliquids). The Government response to the Consultation is due out in October with an announcement about the RHI expected to be made in the spending review due to be published on 20th October.
4. Solar PV Rates of Return
We have not been able to obtain specific figures in relation to rates of return in Europe, save for the link in relation to Italy below. However, most schemes across the world are generically referred to in articles as having a rate of return between 5-10%. I have included some links below that are useful when considering the rates of return available.
Italy - the rate of the return in February was between 4.5 and 10 percent, dependent on where in the country the solar panel is based:
However, the Italian government has since announced that the feed-in tariff will be cut by 30 percent in 2011 to take into account the falling cost of photovoltaic (PV) systems. The rate of return has not been accurately estimated following the announcement, however, it is expected that the rate of return will not change dramatically.
This link to an article in The Guardian "Is solar power a bright investment" contains useful information in relation to the level of investment and the rate of return: