DECC announced today the details of how the solar Feed in Tariff will change from now on.

After months of wrangling the government have announced the details of how the Feed in Tariffs for solar PV will be managed. As of 1st August 2012, the following changes will take effect:

– The FiT rate for domestic PV systems (under 4kWp) will be cut to 16p – The rate for larger systems will also be cut, but by a smaller amount.

The new bands are:

4-10kWp: 14.5p/kWh

10-50kWp 13.5p/kWh

50-150kWp: 11.5p/kWh

– The FiT will now only be payable for 20 years – not 25 years

– There will be a cut in FiT rates every three months, but the depth of the cut will depend on the number of installations in the previous three months. If not enough installations have taken place each quarter, the tariff will not be cut the following quarter.

– The export tariff will be increased from 3.2p to 4.5p/kWh

– The cuts to FiTs for multiple installations have been altered

– the tariffs for multiple installations will now be at 90% of the usual rate, rather than the 80% which was proposed in the consultation.

Energy Minister Greg Barger said: “I want to send a very clear message today. UK solar continues to be an attractive proposition for many consumers considering microgeneration technologies and that having placed the subsidy support for this technology on a long-term, sustainable footing, industry can plan for growth with confidence.”

Read the full press release on the DECC website. Or, for a quick and concise summary of how the ongoing reductions will be implemented you can view a short presentation here.

After months of uncertainty, a clear schedule of how things are going to work is welcome.

Now it remains to be seen how many installations will take place to assess whether the proposed ongoing cuts were gauged correctly….