Renewable energy technologies use the readily available energy from the sun, wind, waves, tide, water or bio-products from managed forests to provide energy for your home or business that doesn’t emit add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere or contribute to climate change.

Find out more about how renewable energy works and learn about the types of renewable energy, inlcuding a video guide, on the Energy Saving Trust  website.

To help stimulate the renewable industry and meet carbon reduction policies there are now options available that are not only environmentally sound but also financially appealing, such as the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and Feed-in tariffs (FiTs).

The RHI will encourage people to take advantage of long term tariff support by utilizing the natural energy available locally with regards to heat generation. The spread of technologies include, ground source heat-pumps, solar thermal, solid and gaseous biomass boilers etc. However to be eligible, renewable heat sources must be installed by a company accredited by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), which aims to protect consumers in this emerging market. RHI payments are due to begin for domestic application from Autumn 2012.

For domestic renewable heat installations from July 2011 to October 2012 one-off direct payments (RHI Premium Payments) will be available to certain properties with well insulated homes and most likely for homes off the gas grid. These will further help to subsidise the cost of investment. So far around £15million of the RHI budget will be ring-fenced, however if eligible for this scheme feedback and monitoring on the performance of equipment will have to be given by the householder.

Payments can be determined through multiplying the kW/hour generated by the appropriate tariff. The tariff is dependant upon factors such as type of technology used and size of installation. The payments are made quarterly over a period of 20 years.

In April 2010 the Government introduced Feed-in tariffs (FiTs) to act as an incentive for the investment for small-scale, low carbon electricity generation technologies that will help reach legally binding targets of 15% of total energy created from renewables by 2020. The FiTs scheme is a public subsidy that pays people back for generating their own “green electricity”.

The tariffs have three financial benefits. The first is a payment for all the electricity produced regardless or whether you use it yourself or not, additional payments for surplus energy generated which is then fed back into the grid, and finally money saved on your standard electricity bill from using your own energy.

The tariffs and hence payments that will be made available are again subject to the type of technology used, for example, solar photovoltaic, wind, hydro, anaerobic digestion etc. The amount of energy generated will also have an affect, as well as the degression rates. Once again to be eligible for the FiTs it is crucial than companies installing these low carbon technologies are accredited by the MCS.

For more detailed information on these schemes please visit the links below or contact your local authority.

Please be advised that for most of the renewable energy technologies mentioned above you will have to seek planning permission. Please contact Torbay Council’s Development Management Team on 01803 207801 for further advice.