In June 2011, the UK government announced it would be making changes to the UK Feed in tariff. Cuts would be made after April 2012 as part of the government’s overall spending reduction programme.

Set up by the previous government, the Feed in Tariff was designed to encourage people to invest in renewable energy, and worked by offering a payment from your energy supplier for each unit of electricity you generate by renewable means.

Many homeowners who purchased solar panels in the last couple of years have expressed concern over the latest announcement, believing that they will lose out on their investment as a result of changes to the tariff.

This is not actually the case however, as the cuts to subsidies will affect only large-scale photovoltaic installations – such as those on schools, large factories or purpose-built solar farms.

In truth, the changes will actually protect the tariff for domestic solar systems rather than take it away. These changes were brought in because of government fears that the money set aside to encourage renewable energy would be swallowed up by large investor-driven solar systems, instead of householders and community projects.

In fact, there has really never been a better time to look at investing in photovoltaic panels.

One of the major UK energy suppliers recently raised its gas prices by 19%, and its electricity prices by 10%. The other suppliers are expected to follow suit shortly, and this is likely to have a serious financial impact on households across the UK at this time of austerity.

The price rises are blamed on the ever-increasing wholesale prices of fuel in the international market, and given that fossil fuels like coal and gas are non-renewable resources and are being used up fast, it is likely that prices will continue to rise year on year for the forseeable future.

Meanwhile, nuclear power, often cited as a cheaper, renewable alternative to fossil fuels, has fallen out of favour recently due to events in Japan, where earlier this year the Fukushima nuclear reactor was crippled by an earthquake and leaked radiation into the surrounding area. For many experts, this episode demonstrated how dangerous nuclear power could be, and as a result a number of planned nuclear projects around the world have been shelved.

All this means the our hopes for the future are being pinned more than ever on renewable resources like solar power as a means of solving our energy crisis.

Right now, you can take a huge step towards freeing yourself from dependency on the big energy companies and their dwindling supply of fossil fuels. You can do this by getting solar panels installed on the roof of your property. It is a one-time cost and despite the recent government budget cuts, the feed in tariff will still be there to help you recoup the cost of your solar panel installation.

The energy generated by the sun is thought to be equivalent to over 10,000 times the annual energy consumed by the entire world. It is a completely free resource and is never going to be used up. With this in mind, the question is not whether you can afford to do adopt solar energy, but whether you can afford not to.

Author Bio: Viable Energy are Scotland\’s leading photovoltaic panels specialists. Visit their website if you would like to know more about solar power scotland, solar panels Glasgow and pv panel installation in the UK.

Category: Home Management
Keywords: solar power scotland, solar panels in scotland, photovoltaic panels uk, solar panels glasgow,