People who are tired of the recent rise in electricity prices have already switched to a cheaper provider. But there's more good news: some suppliers are now willing to pay for any extra energy that a home generates and then sells back to them.
The number of people making their own electricity is on the rise. Around 80,000 households in the UK are thought to make all or part of their own electricity by using rooftop wind turbines and smaller solar powered units. Now that B&Q also sells these kinds of power generators, this number is likely to go up.
It costs about GBP3000 to buy a typical wind turbine and have it put in place. Depending on how big the system is, it could cost between GBP4000 and GBP18000 for a bigger one that could make enough electricity for you to sell some back to the power company. If you want to make your own power, a cheap loan could help you get started. The government is also doing its part by giving grants and tax breaks to people who want to help the cause.
Usually, you can only get a grant if your home is already as energy-efficient as it can be. If you qualify, though, the grant can cover up to 50 percent of the cost of installing solar panels and up to 30 percent of the cost of other equipment. If you don't qualify, you might be able to get a cheap loan instead.
A lot of people still argue about whether or not this kind of microgeneration will save you money in the long run. Setup costs aren't cheap, and it could be a long time before you start saving money.
Installing a metre that keeps track of how much energy you use and how much you send back to the supplier makes it easy to figure out how much you can save on your energy bills. At the moment, NPower and Powergen are the companies that pay you the most for any extra energy you make, but other companies are starting to follow suit. Even if you don't make enough power to sell back to the grid, you will still save money on your energy bills. For example, a 1.4-kilowatt wind turbine with an annual output of 2,000 kilowatt-hours (kwh) could meet about 60% of the energy needs of the average UK home. This would save GBP200 per year.
Microgeneration is not a quick fix for the problem of electricity prices going up. But for those who want to switch to a self-sufficient lifestyle and have the money to do so, the solutions are already out there. Those who see it as a long-term investment are taking advantage of them.
