Britain to launch new scheme to pay households for unused renewable power

By Susanna Twidale

 

FILE PHOTO: Solar panels on refurbished homes reflect the sun in Stoke-on-Trent, Britain February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Darren Staples/File Photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will launch a new scheme to pay households producing energy from renewable sources, such as solar panels, for their surplus electricity, the government said on Sunday.

 

Around 800,000 homes in Britain have solar panels installed and the scheme will replace a feed-in-tariff system which ended in April.

 

"The new smart export guarantee will ensure households that choose to become green energy generators will be guaranteed a payment for electricity supplied to the grid," Energy and Clean Growth minister Chris Skidmore said.

 

Monthly installation of new solar panels in Britain fell to a 9-year low in April, following the end of the feed-in-tariff scheme, provisional government data shows.

 

Under the new scheme, households will be paid for the power they produce by their energy supplier, which sets the prices offered.

 

"If households with panels and batteries can store electricity and sell it back to the grid when it is most needed we could see some homes with negative power bills," said Greg Jackson, CEO of British energy supplier Octopus, which is one of a small number of suppliers already offering an export tariff.

 

The new guarantee will apply to homes with up to 5 megawatts of renewable power capacity installed, with generation tracked by smart meters.

 

The government will set legislation for the scheme to become mandatory for any energy supplier with more than 150,000 customers from January 1 2020, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said.

 

Challenger energy brand Bulb and E.ON also currently offer some customers export tariffs.

 

(Reporting By Susanna Twidale; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-06-09

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Wonder how this will work out when every smart meter is incompatible with every other supplier when you switch provider ????  

3 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Wonder how this will work out when every smart meter is incompatible with every other supplier when you switch provider

Yes, the British authorities have shot themselves in the foot with this one. The Australian model of interoperability and a national meter reads database is the optimal way to go

18 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

The new guarantee will apply to homes with up to 5 megawatts of renewable power capacity installed, with generation tracked by smart meters.

I think they mean 5 kW which will require 500 sq ft of panels. about 45 sq m. 

5 megawatts will require around 12.5 acres or about 32 rai.

16 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

I think they mean 5 kW which will require 500 sq ft of panels. about 45 sq m. 

5 megawatts will require around 12.5 acres or about 32 rai.

I took 5MW as the capped total they would buy from all homes.

Since when is the 'new.'

7 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I took 5MW as the capped total they would buy from all homes.

Ahh haaa.  So it's all PR and Buffalo paddies.  No surprise.

14 hours ago, ThaiBunny said:

Yes, the British authorities have shot themselves in the foot with this one. The Australian model of interoperability and a national meter reads database is the optimal way to go

Exactly, when you switch supplier in most cases can not read remotely and have to go back to manual readings.

 

The problem is the distributor (provides service to all properties in a region) who provides power to the property is only responsible up to the cutout (main fuse), or the isolating valve for gas, the supplier (the user can select any one of the many suppliers) is responsible for the meters, reading the meters and billing. 

 

You can not have a smart gas meter without a smart electric meter, you can not disconnect a lived in property for none payment, can only fit a prepayment meter if the user can access to top it up, if it is to high up can not fit, can not fit in apartment blocks if the meter is in a cupboard that the user can not access.

 

Even commercial properties like say a pub, has one supply for the pub and flat above, so can not disconnect nor fit a prepayment meter, these non payers have never had it so good at the expense of those who actually pay their bills, I have heard say that bill are 25% higher to cover losses by non payers.  

 

IMHO I think the responsibility for the meters and their readings should go back to the distributor, if you do not have a contract with a supplier then you pay the distributor at a government set rate, it is ridiculous and uneconomical to have a multitude of meter readers reading one or two meters in a street instead of one reading them all.   

Edited June 9, 20197 yr by Basil B

Last time I looked the max solar panels allowed on a domestic dwelling in England was 4kWp = 16x250 watt panels and you can only claim the feedback tariff if fitted (or you have) paperwork from an approved installer, these will also be required for any new Govt schemes... 

 

Without a feedback tarriff the sums do not add up unless you staying about 35+ years (well it is in Sunny Manc land lol)