Solar Thermal and the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)

Solar thermal panels and tubes are designed to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels to provide heat in our homes and commercial properties. They work almost in reverse to air conditioning and refrigeration units, by harvesting solar-heat and transferring it to a water cylinder. They can be of great benefit as a subsidiary heating source especially where the property in question relies on oil or LPG gas for heat. These fossil fuels are becoming prohibitively expensive and as such the free heat provided by the sun through a solar thermal system is hugely attractive, especially to those in remote areas.



This diagram shows how solar thermal installations work as an addition to your existing system

 The upcoming renewable heat incentive (RHI) provides potential buyers with another financial attraction on top of the savings described above. So far we have been made aware that the RHI will apply to a number of different systems, such as;

• Wood fueled heating such as biomass boilers,
• Ground source heat pumps,
• Air source heat pumps, and,
• Solar thermal installations

The renewable heat incentive will work in two stages, stage 1 provides the client with a subsidy toward the upfront cost of installation and stage 2 will work in a similar fashion to the feed-in-tariff (FiT) - insofar as it pays the owner a set fee per unit of heat harvested by the system, measured in kW hours. Current indications are that the stage 1 payment for solar thermal installations will be £300, whilst stage 2 payments will be 8p per unit, and that recurring payments will be index linked and paid for a period of 20 years.  The Energy Saving Trust believe that although all installations completed since 15th July 2009 will be eligible for stage 2 payments, stage 1 payments will not come into effect until 2012.

Are you interested in a quote for a Solar Thermal installation at your home or business premises? Fill in this form to arrange for a survey and quote today.