The new rates of the Feed in Tariff which came into effect on 1st November 2012 and reflected a 3.5% drop in the bands up to 50 kWp, will now remain in place until 1st May 2013, OFGEM have just announced.

For those customers who view solar PV arrays mainly as a good investment, these new rates will have a very small impact on their expected returns. The reason for this is threefold: firstly the % drop is very small; secondly, it should be more than matched by the price of the installation; and thirdly, because the FiT payment element is making up an ever smaller proportion of the total returns for solar.

For instance, whereas at 41p the FiT was 3.5 times the value of the electricity saved, today, it is only just greater than 50% and therefore, any change to the FiT has a far smaller effect on the overall returns.

Andy Perkins, MD and founder of EZsolar welcomed the stability that the news will bring to the market “for investors looking for the best returns for their savings over 20 years, solar PV remains very attractive with double digit returns and will do so into the foreseeable future”