Subsidies Available for Solar Hot Water

Solar Hot Water will reduce your energy bills

A well-designed solar water heating system can provide 30-70% of your hot water needs.

This is attractive, but on its own it won’t be enough to recover the installation cost.

The Government wants you to switch from using fossil fuels for heating

The Government has set targets to reduce the level of carbon emissions. To meet these targets it needs to encourage you to take action.

Renewable Heat Incentive

In 2011, the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Phase 1 was launched. RHI will provide financial support that encourages individuals, communities and businesses to switch to using renewable heating sources such as Solar.

What subsidy will I receive?

Domestic customers will receive two benefits.

• Firstly, a one-off payment of £300 for Solar Thermal is available as a Renewable Heat Premium Payment. This will be for a system in a well insulated home, provided the householder agrees to give feedback on its performance. The Energy Saving Trust website has further details.

• Secondly, a long-term tariff from summer 2013. Proposals for this phase have recently been announced. For more details click here.

What subsidy will the owner of a non-domestic system receive?

• Under Phase 1 of the RHI scheme, eligible systems receive a quarterly payment of 8.9 pence per kilowatt hour which increases in line with inflation for 20 years.

• The subsidy represents a significant contribution towards the cost of installing a Solar Hot Water system.