Only photovoltaic systems with an installed capacity of up to 12 MW are supported in France (Art. 10 Cl. 2 Loi n°2000-108; Art. 2 Décret n°2000-1196) and the period of support is 20 years.

Changes to the feed-in tariff rates are based on the total power of photovoltaic systems registered for connection to the public power grid in the previous quarter. Feed-in tariffs are therefore re-adjusted quarterly.

(No guarantee)

Should a roof-top system or a building-integrated system ultimately generated more than the maximum specification, it will receive no payment.

From 1 January 2012 and then continuously on 1 January of every subsequent year, feed-in tariffs will be subject to a degression of 10% (No. 5, Annexe 1 de l’arrêté du 31 août 2010 soleil).

The annual cap for payments for photovoltaic systems in France is as follows:

• Continental France: installed peak capacity multiplied by 1,500 hours of full load.
• Other territories (Corsica etc.): installed peak capacity multiplied by 1,800 hours of full load.

Capacities above this upper limit are paid at a lower rate (currently 5 cents/kWh) (Art. 4 Arrêté du 31 août 2010 soleil).

The successful winners of tenders for the erection of photovoltaic systems can obtain a special feed-in tariff. The Ministry responsible for energy invites tenders at irregular intervals to reach targets for the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources (Art. 8 Loi n°2000-108) specified in the French Pluriannual Investment Programme (Programmation Pluriannuelle des Investissements PPI).