Solar panels offer tax savings

Solar Panels

The Department for Energy and Climate Change's (DECC) Clean Energy Cashback Scheme is promising a 10 percent index-linked return for 25 years completely tax free, for people who install solar panels into their homes.

The scheme comes as the government try and push the use of renewable energy and further the cause of global ecology. People who install solar panels will receive rewards for every single energy unit that is generated by the panels, this is called the 'generation tariff', and is paid to you directly by your energy supplier.

You will also receive payment for all energy that is exported back into the electricity grid, this is known as the ‘export tariff’. Thirdly and finally you will also be rewarded by a decrease in your electricity bills.

A spokeswoman for Solar Century, a solar panel provider, said : “The biggest financial savings through solar go to those who use all or most of the electricity they generate. This means the retired or those who work from home get the best return on investment because they get the saving on their electricity bill as well as the feed-in payment.”

Solar panels can cost between the regions of £8,000 and £14,000 and will power a home with 40 percent of the energy usually supplied by gas systems. This could lead to savings of around £830 a year and will also bring down the size of your carbon footprint.

A current user of solar panels, Ken Rumph, was happy with the system : “I am expecting a 10pc return and although my capital is now tied up, I am getting income from a reliable source that is index-linked and tax-free. I expect the cost of electricity to go up, and I also anticipate that in five or 10 years, people will regard the system as an asset on the house. It has been an exceptionally sunny April, and I made £100 in the first two weeks of the month, having generated 240 kWhs”.