Director of the Energy Unit in the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Dr. Bertil Browne said the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is further extending tariffs to renewable energy equipment.

He said during an interview on September 22 at the Energy Unit on Wellington Road, Basseterre, that “We are in the process of developing a tariff for persons who have rooftop solar and wind turbines at their homes so that when they produce excess energy and it goes back into the grid, they are compensated for it.”

“We are also developing the procedures and the application process as to how you would get it done,” said Dr. Browne.

He added that “The government is trying to incentivize persons who have these installations because the government has a commitment to increase the amount of renewable energy on the grid so this would now incentivize persons to put in more renewable energy and increase our renewable energy production.”

Dr. Browne added that this incentive is not the sole encouragement the Government offers. He said, “Duties have been removed from alternative energy and renewable energy equipment that is imported, things like solar panels and other electrical components that are associated with it.”

For persons looking to invest in solar panels, Dr. Browne gave some insights on the effectiveness of a 250-watt solar panel. He said, “For the average two-bedroom home a 5-kilowatt to 10-kilowatt system should be able to meet all of their energy needs, so you are talking about 10 – 20 panels.”