Firstly – your question on Solar PV. You're not alone in finding the initial investment a hurdle for people wanting to install solar PV panels, but there is good news on the horizon for people like you.
npower is supporting a new government initiative which will make it much quicker to recoup the costs of purchasing solar PV panels, and possibly provide a loaning system to enable you to buy the system up front.
Like you suggest - the scheme will work through a new kind of tariff – called a feed-in tariff - where we will pay our customers a guaranteed rate for all the energy generated by PV panels (even though you will be using some of the energy in your home). The rate will be much higher than has been previously offered by such schemes. The high rate will mean that the initial cost of the solar panels will be repaid much quicker than in the past. It is also a guaranteed rate, so you can work out how long it will take to repay the loan.
The exact details of the scheme will be finalised later this year and it will be available early next year for people to take part.
Moving on to your question about Smart Meters. We will be able to see exactly how much energy every customer has used each month, but to make life easier and payments more manageable for customers through the winter period, we will still allow customers to spread the cost across the year and make regular monthly payments.
