The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has finally confirmed that Green Deal finance can be used to part-fund the cost of a Solar PV installation.

They have issued a document which clearly sets out in detail how the two schemes work together following an uncertain period when the scheme was originally launched.

According to the document, the amount of Green Deal finance available will depend on how much money a proposed Solar array will save homeowners on their electricity bill.  Crucially, even if the amount saved is not enough to fund the entire cost of the installation, with Green Deal finance being able to be used to pay for part of the cost.

In order to calculate how much finance will be available under the Green Deal to fund the cost of a Solar array, assessors will take into account the current ‘deemed’ 50% annual electricity consumption of a system alongside 50% exportation.

The document includes a table example of how the combination of Green Deal and FiTs will work on a standard 4kw residential PV installation:

The news will come as a boom to the residential sector, which has seen the level of installs drop following the FiT changes last year.  The registration of imported Chinese Solar products has also caused module prices to rise recently, further causing uncertainty and concern over the market.

The availability of green deal finance effectively substantially lowers the upfront cost of purchasing Solar PV – one of the largest barriers to uptake in the residential market.