Installer referral fees

The referral fees are calculated from the average tariff on each system

Payments by suppliers registered for this service will comprise: an annual registration fee, and a charge for each referral, payable monthly.

Referral fee calculation

The referral fee is calculated as 5% of the average annual income – rounded to the nearest £5. The average annual income for the period 1st April to 30th June is £657.12.

How much of my margin is that?

Typically it should be no more than 4%. Here’s how:

The tariffs are designed to give a return of 5% to the customer, so the capital cost of the system would be roughly 20x the annual tariff. If the average tariff is £657, the average system price would be £13,140.

You should have a 1 in 3 chance of the order, as we refer each customer to 3 suppliers. If your margin is 20%, you’d expect to earn 1/3 x 20% x £13,140 or about £876 from each referral so the £35 fee is less than 4%.

Average annual income

The annual average income is calculated by looking at the tariff, the capacity and the number of installations in each FITs tariff band, as illustrated in the table below.

Calculating average annual income

Technology Band Systems MW Tariff Income
Solar PV ≤4kW New-build 2,929 4.597 21.0 p £821 k
Solar PV ≤4kW Retrofit 231,287 672.188 21.0 p £119,986 k
Solar PV >4kW – 10kW 4,243 32.764 16.8 p £4,679 k
Solar PV >10kW – 50kW 2,238 76.408 15.2 p £9,872 k
Solar PV >50kW – 100kW 5 0.327 12.9 p £36 k
Solar PV >10kW – 100kW # 432 13.894  
Solar PV >100kW – 150kW 2 0.299 12.9 p £33 k
Solar PV >150kW – 250kW 0 0.000 12.9 p £0 k
Solar PV >250kW – 5MW 2 0.767 8.9 p £58 k
Solar PV >100kW – 5MW # 103 73.585
Solar PV ≤5MW Standalone 459 5.938 8.9 p £449 k
Solar PV ≤5MW Standalone # 205 110.771
Solar PV ≤5MW from RO 3,018 8.666 9.9 p £729 k
Wind ≤1.5kW 18 0.024 35.8 p £15 k
Wind >1.5kW – 15kW 1,333 10.777 28.0 p £5,335 k
Wind >15kW – 100kW 260 7.280 25.4 p £3,269 k
Wind >100kW – 500kW 10 3.090 20.6 p £1,125 k
Wind >500kW – 1.5MW 17 15.000 10.4 p £2,758 k
Wind >1.5MW – 5MW 4 13.400 4.9 p £1,161 k
Wind ≤5MW from RO 800 5.130 9.9 p £898 k
Hydro ≤15kW 88 0.543 21.9 p £311 k
Hydro >15kW – 100kW 36 1.779 19.6 p £912 k
Hydro >100kW – 2MW 24 17.798 12.1 p £5,636 k
Hydro >2MW – 5MW 0 0.000 4.9 p £0 k
Hydro ≤5MW from RO 132 1.813 9.9 p £470 k
AD biogas ≤250kW 0 0.000 14.7 p £0 k
AD biogas >250kW – 500kW 0 0.000 13.6 p £0 k
AD biogas ≤500kW # 8 3.155
AD biogas >500kW – 5MW 8 10.541 9.9 p £3,873 k
AD biogas ≤5MW from RO 0 0.000 9.9 p £0 k
Micro-CHP ≤2kW 353 0.356 11.0 p £57 k
Micro-CHP ≤5MW from RO 0 0.000 9.9 p £0 k
Totals & average: 247,266 Average: £657.12 £162,483 k

Tariffs, which have been discontinued (e.g. as part of the Fast-Track review) are shown with a # above and excluded from the calculations.