FIT payments from MCS registraion

[Yanman]

Hi Guys

Sorry if this seems an old subject but its new to me. When I first started looking into PV I was informed that :
Do your first install then get your MCS done. Then when your customer registers for the feed in tariff the start date for 1st payment will be back dated to commission date of installation.

Install/Commission of system 15th April
MCS inspection 13th May
MCS certificate issued 8th June. I tried to register job with intallation date 15/4 but could only enter 8/6 as earliest date.
Customer applies to DNO 5th July only to be told that when DNO received the returned fit application form and MCS cert. would they start the tariff date and generation meter reading.

Apologies if this seems long winded but I am trying to get the facts out. Does this sound correct? My customer has missed out on 11 weeks of tariff. I feel I misled them as I had been given the wrong info myself.

Any comments/advice appreciated.

 

[SRE]

You get 25 years from the date you registered it so you haven't lost it - it's just gone on the other end of the 25 years.

 

[cjapeterborough]

Having recently purchased a system I have also only just found out that the payments are not back dated to
point of install however I was confidently informed by my system provider that it would be back dated.

The ofgem site clearly states the following


The date from which a generator is eligible to receive payments for electricity generated and exported is known as the Eligibility Date. The Eligibility Date is defined as the later of the following dates:

a) A FIT supplier received a written request for FIT registration,
b) Ofgem received a request for ROO-FIT accreditation, or
c) The commissioning date of the installation

For example, if the installation had commissioned on 1 September 2010 and the application for FIT was received on 15 September 2010 by the FIT Licensee, the correct Eligibility Date for that installation is 15 September 2010. Electricity produced and exported prior to this date is not eligible for FIT payments.

The above puts more pressure on the MCS installer to sort the paperwork asap in order to minimise the delay in raising the MCS certificate etc
Misinforming customers clearly takes the pressure off this aspect but I feel a little annoyed as I may not be alive to benefit from the additional
few weeks at the end of the 25th year.............

I would rather have it now especially when the system has cranked up 400kw in less than 3 weeks........

 

[Yanman]

Thanks SRE I did hear that may be the case. Where is a this information clearly in black and white or do you just take the word of the DNO.

 

[Yanman]

I am with you there cja. I suppose the FIT may be £43 per Kw in 25 years time but I don't think so somehow. It is especially annoying if you informed the customer in the first place particularly for MCS which does take a bit longer to sort out. As long as I know now and hopefully new companies will pick this up quicker too.

 

[cjapeterborough]

One option would be to leave the system isolated from the meter so that the dates could be synchronised wrt to the MCS certificate,and dated FIT application.

Just a thought -at least if customers were given the choice then it deadens the pain of potentially missing out on a few hundred pounds.

Another idea could be to make sure the application for the FIT payments is posted the same day as the system in installed-with MCS cert to follow.

 

[Yanman]

I have the feeling that the power companies still have too much clout in this whole business. They seem to make up there own rules and Ofgem seem to sit back and wave a finger of disapproval. A friend of mine had a system fitted in November 2010 and is still waiting for his first FIT payment. His dno make all sorts of excuses and then tell him he must submit his reading by a certain date or get a further delay in his payments.

 

[Yanman]

I have the feeling that the power companies still have too much clout in this whole business. They seem to make up there own rules and Ofgem seem to sit back and wave a finger of disapproval. A friend of mine had a system fitted in November 2010 and is still waiting for his first FIT payment. His dno make all sorts of excuses and then tell him he must submit his reading by a certain date or get a further delay in his payments.

 

[Graeme Harrold]

The whole process is clearly defined on the MCS website and should have been part of anyones pre qualification reading material. Yes its frustrating, but as mentioned, the 25 year clock starts when Gemserv/Supplier registered. ALways good to process the FIT application for the customer too as there is a 5 day deadline between commissioning and FIT start. Yes it can be fudged, but probably one thankful less headache for the customer.