Sunny Cornwall promises to maximise feed-in tariff returns

Cornwall-based solar panel installation firm Plug Into The Sun yesterday launched an innovative service designed to help private and commercial investors maximise financial returns from the UK's new feed-in tariff (FIT) incentive scheme while also helping to increase the country's renewable energy capacity.

The new FIT Investor service aims to pair investors with domestic and commercial properties in Cornwall with space for rooftop solar panels. The company will broker a deal that allows the owner of the property to reduce their energy bill by using the power generated from the solar, while the investor gets to keep the revenue generated by the solar panels through the feed-in tariff.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com at an event in London organised by InvestinCornwall, Plug Into The Sun managing director Andy Tanner said Cornwall's sunny climate meant that investors could enjoy a better return through the feed-in tariff than if they installed solar panels in other parts of the UK.

"We've been installing solar panels in Cornwall for five years and we've found that while the average output for a solar panel in the UK is about 800kWh per KW of installed capacity, the average in Cornwall is about 1,000kWh and it can get as high as 1,200kWh," he explained.

Tanner said the higher outputs enjoyed by Cornish solar panels mean that while solar panels in other parts of the UK can expect to generate a return of investment of between five and eight per cent through the feed-in tariff, those installed in sunny locations in the county can deliver a return on investment of 10 per cent.

"You are looking at a 10 per cent rate of return guaranteed for 25 years that is index linked, and free of tax for domestic installers," he said. "It is a better rate of return than anything you will get from the bank – and we have an acre of roof space lined up and ready to go."

The company is initially targeting the consumer market, positioning the service as a higher-return alternative to ISAs. But Tannner said that once early adopters had demonstrated that the service works effectively he expected to begin targeting financial institutions and corporate customers who could fund large-scale solar panel installations worth tens of thousands of pounds.