Solar Panel Case Study - Indoor Pool
180 evacuated tubes supply heat to this indoor pool. A stainless steel heat exchanger is placed in the pool pipework upstream of the pool boiler. In this way the solar system pre-heats the pool water. Since pools use a lot of energy to come up to temperature the solar system can take a significant load off the pool boiler early in the season. In many cases the boiler can be switched off for much of the swimming season since the solar system can provide sufficient heat on its own. These customers report a marked reduction in their oil bills.
Feed in Tariff scheme
The FIT is a scheme in which owners of PV systems are rewarded for every unit of electricity they generate, irrespective of whether they are used on site or not.
This is known as the Generation Tariff and is currently 43.3p/kWh. Payments are also made for 50% of every unit generated by the PV system. This is known as the Export Tariff and is currently 3.1p/kWh. These payment rates are fixed for 25 years, linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI) and are tax-free. PV systems installed from 1 April 2012 will be subject to an approximate 7% decrease in the above FIT rates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Got questions about PV systems?
Read our dedicated Photovoltaic FAQ section that answers the most common queries.