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Prices of solar panels continue to decrease
F&S Energy • 14 October 2016
Prices of solar panels continue to decrease
Researchers have found that since the 1980’s, the prices of solar panels have continued to decrease at a rate of 10% per year. This progressive fall in price has in fact lead to a historically significant event to occur where from April to September solar outstripped coal in UK electricity generation, as reported by The Guardian.
Researchers at Oxford University have noted that this plummeting price of solar power is a result of the falling cost of actual solar equipment. It’s noted that due to the continuous development of technology and continuous investment, companies are now able to produce more efficient solar panels for a fraction of the price. Meaning that using the sun as a means of generating power has changed from a fantasy to reality. Therefore, a 4kWh system which would have cost around £10,000- £12 000 a few years ago is now worth £6,500 with the price decreasing rapidly as the years go by. This decreasing price is also a result of a drop in the installation costs of actual solar panels, 5% for rooftop residential systems, and 12% for larger utility-scale solar farms. Installation costs have continued to decrease even though the price of the solar panels has remained relatively flat since 2012. Installation prices have continued to decrease because the cost of the inverters that convert the DC power produced by solaPrir panels to AC power for the grid and other “soft” costs such as customer acquisition, system design, installation and permitting have all decreased.
If this is not a big enough incentive to make the switch to solar power, the temptation of FIT (Feed-in Tariff) payments should be more than enough to encourage anyone to use solar power. The FIT scheme is a government funded program which pays tariffs to individuals who use renewable sources as a means of generating power, as long as they meet the requirements. So not only would there be limited expenditure, generators would earn a subsidy for producing renewable energy, Solar PV included. F&S Energy Ltd is a FIT Licensee meaning that we are licensed by Ofgem to authorise FIT payments to individual generators.
If you are considering utilising these low solar PV prices and the FIT scheme it would be wise to do this sooner rather than later considering that as these prices continue to drop, so does the FIT payment. However, despite this the plummeting costs of solar power makes solar PV cost effective in many cases, delivering earnings and savings on average, around £8,080 over a period of 20 years.
Researchers at Oxford University have noted that this plummeting price of solar power is a result of the falling cost of actual solar equipment. It’s noted that due to the continuous development of technology and continuous investment, companies are now able to produce more efficient solar panels for a fraction of the price. Meaning that using the sun as a means of generating power has changed from a fantasy to reality. Therefore, a 4kWh system which would have cost around £10,000- £12 000 a few years ago is now worth £6,500 with the price decreasing rapidly as the years go by. This decreasing price is also a result of a drop in the installation costs of actual solar panels, 5% for rooftop residential systems, and 12% for larger utility-scale solar farms. Installation costs have continued to decrease even though the price of the solar panels has remained relatively flat since 2012. Installation prices have continued to decrease because the cost of the inverters that convert the DC power produced by solaPrir panels to AC power for the grid and other “soft” costs such as customer acquisition, system design, installation and permitting have all decreased.
If this is not a big enough incentive to make the switch to solar power, the temptation of FIT (Feed-in Tariff) payments should be more than enough to encourage anyone to use solar power. The FIT scheme is a government funded program which pays tariffs to individuals who use renewable sources as a means of generating power, as long as they meet the requirements. So not only would there be limited expenditure, generators would earn a subsidy for producing renewable energy, Solar PV included. F&S Energy Ltd is a FIT Licensee meaning that we are licensed by Ofgem to authorise FIT payments to individual generators.
If you are considering utilising these low solar PV prices and the FIT scheme it would be wise to do this sooner rather than later considering that as these prices continue to drop, so does the FIT payment. However, despite this the plummeting costs of solar power makes solar PV cost effective in many cases, delivering earnings and savings on average, around £8,080 over a period of 20 years.
F&S Energy are now buying electricity from well over 1,000 renewable generators throughout the UK.
F&S Energy, a leading independent PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) provider in the United Kingdom, have secured a deal with Limejump Energy to buy the small-scale PPA portfolio which includes all renewable generators that are generating under 50GWh per annum, and the associated import customers. Moving customers over to F&S Energy began on May 1, 2024. To make the transition as smooth as possible, previously agreed rates will be honoured for a full year before reverting to F&S rates. F&S Energy purchases power from renewable generators throughout the UK, offering market leading rates and top levels of customer service for all of their clients. They sell the power they purchase on to business customers in the industrial and commercial sector. F&S Energy has released the following statement: “We are thrilled to take on small-scale customers from Limejump Energy into our portfolio. We thank all members of staff at Limejump Energy, and our team, for their efforts in ensuring a smooth transition of customers. We are appreciative of Ofgem for recognising F&S Energy as a reliable financial party, for generation customers, after successful completion of their trade sale compliance assessment further strengthening our position as a leading UK PPA provider.”
We are proud to be lead sponsors of the fantastic event Green City 2023
The Accelerated Loss of Mains Change Programme is an industry wide project that is taking place throughout the UK, being run by the National Grid and Distributors. The focus of this programme is to upgrade or replace embedded generation assets where possible. These new requirements will improve long-term energy network stability and prevent any embedded generators from being cut off. If your generator is between 11kW and 50MW and was installed before February 2018, you may have a type of loss of mains protection that is more sensitive and may cause them to unnecessarily trip. Funding is now available to upgrade your generator to help deliver a zero-carbon electricity grid through the ALoMCP. By applying for this, you could potentially claim thousands of pounds to help make mandatory Loss of Mains protection changes for your sites. Funding will reduce in Spring in 2022 and the final deadline to apply is 10th May 2022, otherwise generators could be subject to an enforcement programme. Please follow https://www.ena-eng.org/ALoMCP/ to apply for funding. Alternatively you can contact your Distributor as they will have an allocated team to give you a hand. If you need any help finding out who your distributor is, please give us a call on 01245 690151 or email us at info@fs-energy.co.uk .
F&S Energy has teamed up with leading solar PV optimising and monitoring company, HIT Energy Services. It will mean their hundreds of customers will get market-leading rates for the excess electricity they produce, with this green energy then helping to power the businesses we supply around the U.K. The UK-based company work with farmers, agricultural firms and landowners on existing systems to carry out a health check and monitor the systems using their award-winning platform. F&S Energy has provided a route to allow this green energy to be passed on to other environmentally-conscious businesses, with everyone benefitting. “Because of the rise in energy prices, what is produced from solar is more valuable than ever,” said Simon Hopkins of HIT Energy Services. “We have been keen to help our clients make the most from what they produce and do not use in their business operations. This new partnership is perfect as F&S Energy understands the renewables sector and is as passionate as us about helping people live greener lives.” F&S Energy managing director Steven Funnell said: “At F&S we have always taken the approach of doing the right thing by our customers and letting our reputation do our marketing for us. We see HIT as a perfect match to partner up with and to offer their services to our customers.” HIT Energy Services’ work has been recognised with a string of accolades - at Lamma 2020, the company scooped the online innovation award, while it also beat hundreds of other products to be ranked seventh in the Midlands Tech 50 list. Now, the innovations its engineers have created to make solar a reliable source of power are set to benefit many more businesses. Simon added: “We have been keen for our industry to help out in this time of crisis, while also providing a boost to the sector. Our link-up with F&S Energy will mean everyone benefits, from the Solar PV owner to the businesses being powered by cheaper, greener energy
Peer-to-peer trading not only allows consumers to know exactly where their power is coming from and the confidence to know that they are truly being supplied from a renewable source. But also provides a financial benefit for both electricity consumers and the generators through a discount on industry costs
A new series from F&S Energy in which we meet some of our key customers, connecting the generators with businesses to show who, how and where their green energy they buy comes from.
F&S Energy, a leading independent PPA provider and FIT licensee, have secured a deal with Bristol Energy to purchase the entire renewable energy generator portfolio (PPA contracts), along with Bristol Energy’s commercial FIT customers and the transfer of 1 staff member. Earlier this year Bristol City Council announced its intention to put Bristol Energy up for sale, and over the past few months Bristol Energy have been working in the background to find the best placed homes for their customers and contracts. Previously it was announced that the business customers would be moved to Yu Energy and the domestic customers will be transferred over to Together Energy. Concurrently to this, the deal to place the PPA portfolio was agreed with F&S Energy with the contracts being novated on the 1st of October. The combined contracted capacity moving to F&S is circa 91MW. F&S Energy purchase power from renewable generators throughout the UK, offering market leading rates and top levels of customer service for all of their clients. They sell the power they purchase on to business customers, providing each customer with 100% true renewable power sourced from local generators at prices that beat traditional suppliers. Quote from Steven Funnell MD F&S Energy: “We are very pleased that Bristol City Council chose to move Bristol Energy's renewable generator portfolio over to F&S Energy. We welcome these new customers and will continue to give them the excellent customer service that our existing customers have become used to.”
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