From April 2010, there will be new funding available which should make ‘going green’ a much more attractive proposition. FIT or Feed in Tariff’s is a cash back incentive scheme, where building owners who install renewable technologies will receive money for the electricity they generate. For solar photovoltaics’ (PV) this could equate to £1,000 a year.

Already successfully deployed in over 45 countries, the scheme, also known as Clean Energy Cash Back, will reward those who invest in green technologies by paying a guaranteed set rate for each unit of energy produced – over 20 years for wind technologies and 25 for solar projects.

FIT can offer a triple financial incentive: You will receive a payment for all the energy you produce, whether you use it yourself, or export it to the grid – if you export it to the grid you can get an additional bonus payment – and your fuel bills will reduce as a consequence of generating your own electricity.

For the average household, using 4,500kW of electricity year with PV panels generating about 2,500kW, £800 would be paid to per annum, tax free. On top of that, electricity costs will be reduced from £450 to £300 a year, saving £150. Therefore, the total annual benefit is £950.

For business owners with large premises in the right location, this new scheme could actually turn into a money-making venture. On a reasonable sized site, up to a 10% return on the investment of the green technology could be achieved – better than leaving cash in the bank. To get this high return, businesses should take advantage of FIT now, as although renewable technology will reduce in price, so will the cost of electricity units – the cash back you receive is fixed at the time you start the scheme.

Compared with the Low Carbon Building Programme (LCBP), the current Government grant scheme which offers a one off payment against the cost of installing renewable technology – around £1,000 once for Solar PV – FIT offers a much more appealing on-going money incentive, multiplying the LCBP’s offering by up to 25 times!

If you’ve already installed electricity generating renewables, as long as you did this after July 15th 2009, you can still claim under FIT’s. For more information, visit www.fitariffs.co.uk.