Business Spotlight

The Feed in Tariff which started in April this year gives the householder and small business owner the chance to generate their own electricity, make savings on carbon emissions and earn a substantial income at the same time. The scheme covers a number of technologies and all suppliers must be registered with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme to allow their installations to be registered for the payments.
One of the best technologies for this region is photovoltaic panels, as they require no maintenance and in most situations do not require planning consent. We tracked down Ben Boon of Solar East Anglia one of a number of specialist companies in this field to find out more about it. Asking him about the financial benefits, we were told;
“People often ask me if solar photovoltaic panels are now the best thing to invest in. I am not qualified to give investment advice but anything that offers a return of 8% to 11% on a good site in the first year and is linked to RPI for 25 years has to be more than worth a look. The government doesn’t even want any tax on the income on a domestic installation and for businesses the cost can be written off against tax in the first year. Compared to money in the bank, there is no contest.”
Ben continued,
“What requires most explanation, apart from the technical aspect of an installation, to those who have become familiar with the feed in tariff system is why we at Solar East Anglia seem to offer better returns than most of our competitors. The answer is simple. We buy the same MCS approved products as others but we do not have the overheads of a national organisation. No large management structure, no sales force and very little advertising as most of our business comes from word of mouth. This can mean we are several hundred if not thousands of pounds cheaper than most. Being local has other benefits too. We have invested in our own scaffold systems which cover the majority of situations meaning we can bring them with us when we install rather than hiring scaffolding which can cost hundreds Our aim is to be not only the most cost effective supplier in the region, but to offer the very best in service, something we can achieve from our base near Bury St Edmunds”
“You only need to talk to some of our customers to find out about the quality of our service and our products. Take a look at our website www.solareastanglia.co.uk to find out what fantastic returns are available”