So you’ve seen Will’s solar home and are inspired?

(Will, we’re really glad you’re chuffed with your new mini power station).

The UK’s newly announced Feed-in tariff brings a new dawn for generating electricity with solar power in the UK. The new scheme means homeowners producing solar electricity will earn income from energy generation, benefit from significant savings on electricity bills and cut carbon emissions. It’s estimated that you can save and earn over £1,000 per year for 25 years, increasing with inflation, with a typical solar electric system.  Because of this, the Government hopes one in every ten homes will be solar by 2020.

So what next?

Check out your roof. It will need to be up to it, meaning not caving in with significant structural problems. As long as it’s not north facing or shaded for most of the day, you’re likely to be able to consider going solar.  

Are you someone who likes the idea of generating your electricity, but just not ready to take the plunge?

Well, you're not alone. But if you've been thinking about solar for a while, now might be the time to look a bit further..Did you know that from now until April of 2010, homeowners can take advantage of two overlapping Government incentives encouraging people to generate their own electricity?  Households that install a solar PV system in this time will be able to get their hands on a grant of up to £2,500 and also benefit from £1,000 a year when the “clean energy cash back” scheme, announced in the recent Government consultation paper, is launched.