As every week, the Department of Energy and Climate Change publishes the weekly statistics of solar PV installations all over the UK. Around 50 installations more than the week ending 15th April took place, which means that, right now, there are a total of 312,537 solar PV installations in the UK . As a result, these solar panels installations are producing more than 1 GW of energy (1,067,903 kW), that equals that when operating at peak performance, these panels could be powering up to 220,550 homes¹.

Tariff bands

Number of PV's installed

Capacity installed (KW)

Four months ago in retrospect, the total number of installations done was higher than in the current days. The quantity of solar PV installations in the week ending in the 1st April – when the new Feed-in Tariffs took effect – were 8,961, where the great majority, 8,539, were installations from 0kW to 4kW, that is, the most affected tariff band once the the new Feed-in Tariffs legislation started.

Comparison Chart showing Monthly Solar PV Installations from January to April 2012 in the UK

New Feed-in Tariffs

From 1st April to 1st July 2012, the solar PV tariffs for systems under 4kW will be 21p/kWh, plus new requirement to show property has an EPC Band D or above. If the property is not an EPC band D on the date the application for FITs is made, then the rate will be 9p/kWh.

In addition, a new proposal of new tariffs from 1st July 2012 onwards (16.5p/kWh – 13.6p/kWh (tbc), depending on the total installed capacity between 3rd March and 30th April 2012) has been made and is still under consultation.

For more information about new FITs, please, visit the DECC website.

1. The performance of solar PV systems is impossible to predict with certainty due to the variability in the amount of solar radiation (sunlight), and it depends on the location, the orientation, and the position of the panels, and varies year by year. This estimate is based on the Government’s standard assessment procedure for energy rating of buildings (SAP) and also in “Typical domestic energy consumption figures” published by Ofgem in January 2011.

Related Posts

– How the UK Feed In Tariffs Work – Video
– New feed-in-tariffs regulations from April 1, 2012
– Feed In Tariff Requires Energy Performance Certificate @ Level D or Above
– How much energy consume the British?

Tags: feed in tariffs, feed in tariffs legislation, new feed in tariffs, new FITs, solar panels, solar panels uk, solar pv, solar pv installations, solar pv installations 2012, solar pv installations 2012 uk, solar pv installations uk