With the financial incentives being cut, does investing in solar still make sense?

Reading the headlines, you would be forgiven for thinking the heyday of solar had come to an end. The Feed in Tariff (the rate you are reimbursed for the surplus electricity you sell to the grid) has been reduced yet again this year and subsidies for large scale solar farms have been withdrawn.

But for people like Keith Jones, who farms beef cattle and arable crops on the banks of the River Severn in Gloucestershire, the financial incentives are only half the story. The environment is just as important.

Keith recently had three sets of solar PV panels installed. Two sets to power the fans on his farm’s biomass boiler and one set to provide power in his home. His reasons for choosing solar were very simple.

“Using renewable energy to protect the environment is very important to me,” he says, “But being able to save money was also very attractive.”

There is no doubt the environmental benefits are just as attractive as they ever were: a solar PV system on a typical home saves over a tonne of carbon dioxide per year.

And despite the cut in the Feed in Tariff, the financial savings are still attractive too.

Keith chose Cheltenham’s Forever Green Energy to install his solar panels primarily because of the competitive price. Apart from that, the people factor was a definite plus, perhaps hardly surprising from a company that promises honest and expert advice, a high quality job and excellent customer service.

“They seemed reputable and straightforward, something that was backed up when I checked them out online. I got on well with them. I’d recommend them to anyone.”