In the face of the recent 'disappointing' decision on 'community' Feed-in Tariff (FiT) status for social housing projects, renewables supplier Dimplex is helping registered providers go ahead with photovoltaiv (PV) projects, thanks to a solar finance solution designed for social housing.
Clare Campbell, product marketing manager at Dimplex Renewables, said: 'The Government's recent ruling makes it a little less easy for social landlords to tackle the escalating problem of fuel poverty with solar PV. However, there remain great benefits to be had from the technology and we have developed our finance scheme to help organisations go ahead with installing PV on their housing stock.'

The Dimplex solar finance solution, offered in partnership with Forrest Green, covers the cost of purchase, installation and ongoing maintenance of solar PV panels via a finance solution over up to 15 years, covered by payments under the FiT. Residents can access free day-time electricity immediately after installation and the programme can be expected to be cost neutral from the first year.

DECC's recent ruling means that although social landlords will still be able to access the FiT for solar PV installations, they will not be able to benefit from longer FiT guarantees or relaxed energy efficiency criteria for their properties. Additionally, landlords will be able to install only 25 PV arrays before a 10 percent cut in FiT kicks in, since aggregated social housing PV projects now receive just 90 percent of the FIT, giving a payment of 14.4p per kWh from 1 August.

Dimplex said its scheme with Forrest Green scheme delivered solar PV to social housing organisations at no cost, 'but unlike 'rent a roof' schemes, title is transferred to the registered provider at the end of the lease, allowing the landlord to benefit from FiT payments for the remaining years of the scheme'.