Key terms explained for Feed-in Tariffs

The Authority (Ofgem) is the administrator of the scheme.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) existed until 2023 and was split to form the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

The register kept and maintained by Ofgem in which all FIT accredited installations are recorded

An eligible installation owned by a charity; a subsidiary wholly owned by a charity; a community benefit or co-operative society; or a community interest company, which has less than 50 employees.

A CoFPD is an instruction by Ofgem for FIT licensees to pay generators whose previous licensee has either gone out of business or lost their electricity supply license.

The maximum capacity at which the installation could be operated for a sustained period without damaging it (assuming the source of power used by it to generate electricity was available to it without interruption) minus the amount of electricity that is consumed by the installation.



DNC is used to determine whether an installation classes as MCS-FIT or ROO-FIT.

Export payments which are made based on estimated electricity export set by  the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Installations are only eligible if they have a capacity of 30 kilowatts or less and do not have an export meter fitted.

A limit on many installations of a certain type and capacity could be accredited for the FIT scheme for each tariff period.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

The date an installation’s eligibility for FIT payments begins.

Eligibility date depends on when the installation was commissioned and applied for the FIT scheme:

For installations commissioned and with application receipt date before 15 January 2016, the Eligibility Date is either the application receipt date or commissioning date, whichever is later.

For installations with an application date after 7 February 2016, the Eligibility date is the application receipt date or the first day of the first Tariff period it qualifies for, whichever is later.

The length of time for which FIT payments can be received for electricity generated/exported. For most installations this is 20 years.

The EER applies to certain solar PV installations with a capacity up to 250kW and an Eligibility Date on or after 1 April 2012. These installations must demonstrate that the building which they are wired to provide electricity to has achieved an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of level D or above or else receive a lower tariff rate.

Some solar PV installations, such as community energy and standalone installations, are exempt from the EER or have reduced criteria which they need to meet in order for the higher tariff rate to apply.

The owner of an eligible installation used or intended to be used for small-scale low-carbon electricity generation

The supplier who pays you the FIT payments. The collective term for Mandatory FIT Licensees and Voluntary FIT Licensees.

Generation Payments and/or Export Payments

A period from 1 April to 31 March. FIT Years count upwards from FIT Year 1 (1 April 2010 – 31 March 2011). 

An application for extra time to commission and apply for an eligible installation that has been affected by delays to grid connection or radar works beyond the generator’s control.

The process by which the costs of the FIT scheme are spread across all electricity suppliers. This occurs every three months (quarterly levelisation) with the final amounts being settled once a year (annual levelisation)

The fund kept by Ofgem that levelisation payments are made into and received out of.

An energy supplier with 250,000 domestic customers or more who is required to be a FIT Licensee

A solar PV or wind installation with a Declared Net Capacity (DNC) of 50kW or less.

Export payments which are made based on export meter readings (as opposed to deemed export – see above)

An organisation that has a turnover of less than €2 million and less than 10 employees or an annual electricity consumption of less than 100,000 kWh

An industry body which accredits installers and provides certification for products up to 50 kilowatts in capacity that generate renewable electricity 

A person or organisation who, either by themselves or together with other ‘connected persons’, is the generator or nominated recipient for 25 or more eligible solar PV installations

The process by which deficits in the levelisation fund are spread across all licensed electricity suppliers. A deficit occurs when suppliers fail to make payments into the levelisation fund and must be of a certain size for mutualisation to be triggered

A person appointed by a FIT Generator to receive FIT payments for an accredited FIT installation owned by that FIT Generator

A request by a property owner for information about an installation that is, or may be, accredited under the FIT scheme

How eligible community organisations could apply to Ofgem in order to get the benefits available to Community Energy Installations, such as a reduced EER requirements

A process which allows FIT generators to secure a tariff rate before they commission and apply for full accreditation. Once granted, the installation must then commission, and an application for full accreditation be made, within a certain time (the validity period)

The register maintained by Ofgem through which FIT generators with ROO-FIT installations apply for accreditation and record any changes to it.

Solar PV or wind installations with a DNC over 50 kW and up to a TIC of 5 MW, and anaerobic digestion or hydro installations with a TIC up to 5MW

The Secretary of State for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

A 'small business' is an organisation that has fewer than 50 employees or their full-time equivalent, and an annual turnover of at most £6.5 million or a balance sheet total of £5 million, or an annual electricity consumption of not more than 200,000 kWh (revised from the originally proposed 500,000 kWh), or an annual gas consumption of not more than 500,000 kWh. 

The contract that a FIT Generator signs with a FIT Licensee outlining the terms and conditions that apply

Used to determine which tariff rate the installation receives. In respect of solar PV, wind, hydro and AD installations, a repeating three month period. In respect of Micro CHP installations, a repeating six month period. 

The amount FIT Generators get paid for electricity generation and export (expressed in pence per kilowatt hour). The tariff rate a generator will receive varies based on factors such as the installation technology, TIC, and the tariff period which the installation falls into.

The maximum capacity at which an installation could be operated for a sustained period without damaging it (assuming the source of power or eligible low-carbon energy source was available to it without interruption). This is usually the total kilowatt capacity of the generating equipment

The time in which a ROO-FIT installation granted preliminary accreditation must be commissioned and an application for full accreditation made.

An energy supplier with fewer than 250,000 domestic customers who chooses to become a FIT Licensee voluntarily