Smart FIT Payments

[InventEd]

Just recieved a message that my fit payments will move to being SMART rather then assumed 50%. Perfectly unlucky timing for me as I am just about to have a battery installed! I am sure I exported >50% historically but will be <50% going forward with the battery!

What are smart export payments?  | Good Energy

By generating electricity, you’re making Britain greener. That’s because all the electricity you don’t use at home feeds into the national grid, contributing to the total amount of renewable power.

www.goodenergy.co.uk

 

[Andywil]

Just recieved a message that my fit payments will move to being SMART rather then assumed 50%. Perfectly unlucky timing for me as I am just about to have a battery installed! I am sure I exported >50% historically but will be <50% going forward with the battery!

What are smart export payments?  | Good Energy

By generating electricity, you’re making Britain greener. That’s because all the electricity you don’t use at home feeds into the national grid, contributing to the total amount of renewable power.

www.goodenergy.co.uk

The link does state that you can move to smart export.
I suspect they are hoping you will which will save them a lot of money.
If it were me I would stay put on original FIT payments, which if I remember correctly was guaranteed for 25 years.

 

[Drew57]

Yes, FIT is 25 years & I see no reason for anyone choosing to lose that guaranteed, increasing annually, payment rate.
I certainly won't give that up.

 

[rowedav]

Not recieved anything about transferring onto SEG but would very likely stick on FIT. I inherited onto the FIT scheme when I bought my current house in Oct '21 - the panels and scheme transferred to me on completion. My panels were installed in 2013 and runs to 2033 I believe.

To be honest, I knew very little (read: nothing) about it at the time I bought the house, but it's been a massive help. Received just under £1000 in FIT payments last year - not bad for absolutely no effort or anything on my part. Not sure what I would actually export but the deemed 50% seems generous to me.

 

[Planky]

As there is no way to measure my actual export, the system was installed in 2011, I don’t see how I could be asked to change!

 

[djtaylor]

As there is no way to measure my actual export, the system was installed in 2011, I don’t see how I could be asked to change!

Presumably, if you have a smart meter, the exported energy will be readable. On mine, there's a generation meter (not export) and I don't have a smart meter.
To be honest, the exported amount is pretty insignificant, currently at about 4p per kWh, which they then sell on for at least 32p per kWh. That said, I do have a battery so get paid for the 50% assumed export, which isn't exported.
It's the FIT currently at 60p per kWh for generation that's the tasty one.

 

[Fursty Ferret]

It's the FIT currently at 60p per kWh for generation that's the tasty one.

And the one that should be rescinded as soon as possible and the funding redistributed to people who genuinely can’t afford to heat their own homes. It’s not unreasonable to save money by making improvements to your home (solar PV, batteries etc) but it’s another thing entirely to make a killing on a back of a corrupt implementation of the rules a decade ago.

 

[cryo]

It would be nearly impossible to change the system as the UK government was taken to court over the fit and lost the case twice on appeal with the judge stating that he was barring the government bringing the case to court again. If the government tried to interfere with the fit contact after that ruling it would be acting in contempt of court. Bear in mind nobody knew if this scheme could make money and how efficient the systems could be over time so the early adopters took a risk.

 

[Planky]

And the one that should be rescinded as soon as possible and the funding redistributed to people who genuinely can’t afford to heat their own homes. It’s not unreasonable to save money by making improvements to your home (solar PV, batteries etc) but it’s another thing entirely to make a killing on a back of a corrupt implementation of the rules a decade ago.

Without that Feed-In-Tariff I would not have been able to afford to fit solar PV, and neither would most other people I know. This FIT effectively set up the solar PV installation companies that now fit the panels a lot more cheaply.

The current total mess of people not being able to afford to heat their houses etc is simply due to the total failure of our Government.

 

[WannabeOwner]

it’s another thing entirely to make a killing on a back of a corrupt implementation of the rules a decade ago.

I think early adopters were brave to invest that money at that time ... I have no idea if the current payback is reasonable, but it is certainly reasonable that the initial amount was high to encourage early adopters. Right now they would be better off with modern panels - they will generate far more electricity from that roof area, but they are stuck with inefficient, inferior, panels. Over time (as has happened for other similar incentives - e.g. the subsidy for an EV or a wall charger for a car) the subsidy drops as price falls and it becomes more affordable to more people.

Without such subsidies we would be stuck with Big Company doing nothing about climate change, Eco house building, polluting ICE vehicles and the Fuel (Oil) supply insecurity and so on.

If it had been such an amazing bonanza everyone would have done it, whereas in practice only a few did

 

[djtaylor]

And the one that should be rescinded as soon as possible and the funding redistributed to people who genuinely can’t afford to heat their own homes. It’s not unreasonable to save money by making improvements to your home (solar PV, batteries etc) but it’s another thing entirely to make a killing on a back of a corrupt implementation of the rules a decade ago.

I don't have an issue with the sentiment but suggest you direct your ire towards those who a) defined the scheme and b) enriched their mates with fake PPE scams, bought yachts from backhanders of some 200 million for a company that only existed for a few days and had no premises etc. (Unrelated I know).
What the original FIT failed to do was to ensure it was only available to individual householders. What broke the scheme was the number of unscrupulous start ups who got their solar certificate and then went bust when the scheme ended. Plus the investment funds that saw it as only a method to cream off funds by finding people for "free" solar panels and reduced bills, while they just took the guaranteed FIT payment.
As others have said, the newer panels are more efficient and that was factored as part of the inventive.
On a forum that's about Tesla, I'm sure most of us are not in the hard up bracket and without being specific, some will do more to help others less fortunate but I'm pretty confident that my considerable personal tax bill is doing its part to help those on benefits and struggling, many of whom pay no tax, nor am I bitter about that. Different people have different circumstances.
Challenge the criminally corrupt, wholly inept, self serving morons in government and ask them why no plan for energy security for the past decades, no decoupling of the gas to electricity price, no strategy on... well anything actually.
My solar panels aren't the problem though, that much I'm sure about!