At the start of February, the Government announced the final
details of the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) scheme and closed the old £2500
capital grant scheme to new projects. Fortunately we managed
to secure our grant during January. The FIT for new PV
installations will be 41.3 p for all units generated plus 3p for
any units exported. The FITs will be index linked annually and
confirmed as tax free.
We invited four West Country installers of PV systems to quote
for our work:
Two of these companies (Beco and Solarsense) were selected
based on feedback from CCA members who already have PV systems
installed.
Initially, all were willing to give us a budget estimate based
on approximate dimensions provided by us and photographs of
our cottage and its roof. Of these estimates, Becosolar was
over 10% higher than two which were similarly priced (Solarsense
and Chris Rudge), and one, G R Edwardes, which was 10% lower than
the other two.
We short-listed to Solarsense and Chris Rudge as G R Edwardes
had only very limited practical experience.
The two short-listed companies performed site surveys
and provided us with firm quotations. Interestingly, the site
surveys had no effect on the budget prices originally submitted as
the job was deemed by both to be uncomplicated. We decided to give
the work to Solarsense as they were cheaper than Chris Rudge and
had masses of experience in installing PV systems.
Our installation is booked for week commencing 6th April.