Solar Blog

With Scottish Power (SP) announcing price rises of 10% and 19% on its electricity and gas prices respectively, the arguments for home solar power installations seem to have gained further strength.

The increases will come into effect from August 2011, and the announcement has already kick started a mass use of comparison websites to look for better deals. However, with all energy suppliers soon to introduce similar increases, significant savings look unlikely.

Though the cost of wholesale energy has risen significantly, a major argument from the executives at SP, the increase can also be put down to ever increasing green taxes applied to energy providers.   That these do not get itemised separately is a bone of contention to many, but they are there in any case.

With supplies of fossil fuels running down though, it is only inevitable that costs will rise. With taxes imposed, this is even more the case and it is an exercise put into place quite openly to make renewable energy more attractive.

With many incentives available to invest in solar panel installations, such as the feed in tariff (FIT) scheme, such price rises will not worry everyone so much. Whilst the initial installation cost of somewhere in the region of £10,000 seems high, energy bills will fall by about 50%, whilst income from FIT could be as much as £1,500.

The FIT rates are also guaranteed to home owners and small community projects for at least 25 years which, with the immediate future of more traditional energy bills uncertain, could be the biggest draw for those still deciding the merits of solar.