What limitations are there and am I eligible?

Anyone who installs a renewable electricity system with a capacity of five megawatts or less is eligible to receive the Feed-In Tariff. The five megawatt system can be used on a single property for a householder or business or used collectively by a community.

Solar PV isn’t the only technology that qualifies for the tariff – wind turbines, hydroelectricity, anaerobic digestion and micro-combined heat and power systems (Micro-CHP) all qualify too – but it is expected to be the most popular renewable alternative in the UK.

The tariffs available and the process for receiving them varies depending on when the technology was installed and if you followed the guidelines of using an installer certified under the Micro generation Certificate Scheme (MCS*).

To qualify for the full Feed-In Tariff payments you must have either had the technology installed between 15July 2009 and 31 March 2010 and transferred to Feed-In Tariff before April 2010 or have the technology installed after 1 April 2010 using a certified product and installer.

* The Micro generation Certification Scheme (MCS) is an independent scheme that certificates micro generation products under 50kW and installers in accordance with consistent standards. Any commercial or larger scale systems, over 50kW, and all anaerobic digestion installations must apply directly through the Renewable's Obligation Order feed-in tariff process for larger installations (ROO-FIT) process as they are not covered by the MCS.