Depending on your location there may be government schemes available to help you with financing renewable energy projects. Different types of schemes may be available from your countries government including the provision of grants or even generous feed in if you plan on selling excess electricity back to your national grid.
Renewable Energy Grants
Grants are sometimes available and can be awarded to help homeowners or businesses to reduce the financial impact of installing renewable energy systems. This method has been used to help change the attitudes of particular countries that rely heavily on fossil fuels for providing a source of gas and electricity.
For a long time, homeowners wishing to install renewable energy systems had to find the initial funding to finance the project entirely on their own either through a loan or by digging into their savings. Government grants can help those most at need of financial assistance that would still like to install such systems.
An example of a renewable energy grant system is the low carbon building program that ran between April 2006 and May 2010. This scheme was split up into 2 phases with phase 1 offering grants to homeowners and phase 2 offering grants to businesses. Grants are said to have been anywhere between 10% and 50% but did have limits as to how much you could receive.
Although the low carbon building program is now closed, other countries may still be offering similar schemes and we always advise that you first check with your local council or government to see what financial assistance may be available to you before going ahead with your project. Should you meet the criteria for any available renewable energy financial support then this could save you a small fortune.
Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariffs
Another scheme of renewable energy financial support can be found in feed-in tariffs. Some countries offer households the opportunity to sell excess electricity they generate via renewable energy systems back to the electrical grid. This can help pay for your renewable energy installation over a period of years, whilst also providing you with a source of free energy.
Feed-in tariffs have been highly popular in the U.K over recent years due to the income people can receive from renewable energy installations.
An Overview of Renewable Energy Financing Schemes
Schemes for financing renewable energy installations will not be around forever so if you’re seriously considering a renewable energy installation then we advise you to do some research into the different grants that may be available to you and when they are likely to run out.
There are many sources available on the web that provide in-depth information into financing renewable energy in your area and we strongly recommend you take a look at these if you’re planning an installation in the near future.
