Ofgem have cleared up guidelines this week about the export tariffs and battery storage. It was previously unclear whether existing solar projects would receive the port tariff if they incorporated a new battery storage system to their existing systems.
There had been two sets of guidelines released, both insinuating different things. One of these guidelines suggested that anyone with battery storage included would not be eligible for export payments and the other required anyone with solar panels to install smart meters and export meters.
Ofgem have now cleared up this matter and released new guidelines which state that anyone currently receiving the FED, even if they have a battery or smart meter, will in fact still receive these payments, providing all the normal requirements are met.
The STA appealed to Ofgem to clarify this matter. Chris Hewett, chief executive at the STA, said;
“Credit to Ofgem for listening and for doing the right thing here to get domestic smart homes moving forwards. We now need government to remove the much higher 20% VAT for retrofit battery storage systems, compared to 5% VAT for new PV and storage system, to really boost this market,”
Battery storage is a relatively new concept for solar power. They have a 10-year life and could save you 100’s of pounds on your energy bills - up to 60% by storing the power produced in sunlight hours and using it at times the solar panels cannot work. Currently, you can still sell this back to the grid via the feed in tariff and make some money.
