Scots can now access pay-as-you-go solar panels for just £61 a month in what’s been branded a “game-changer” for the green energy market. For the first time, people can get a subscription for the popular renewable technology rather than paying up to £7,000 to buy panels up front.
Experts hope it will see a solar power surge across Scotland as more homeowners take up the option of rooftop panels – saving money on bills in the long term by selling energy back to the grid. Solar power is growing in popularity in Scotland, with MCS certification data showing more than 16,500 households had solar installed last year – up from just 50 installations in 2013.
Advocates of the technology say it has been wrongly misjudged by some as not useful in Scotland given our dreary weather. But they insist solar could supply all of Scotland’s energy needs from sunlight to an area as small as the Isle of Hoy – and insist thousands of households and businesses could install rooftop panels to reduce bills.
It comes after 2023 saw a boom year for solar worldwide, with record capacity installed in the UK, the EU and the US – while China built more panels than the rest of the world combined. The subscription model is being offered by solar price comparison site Otovo. They say an average consumer can expect to pay £61 per month for a subscription with ten panels and a battery.
Otovo estimates consumers could quickly begin earning £19 a month in savings on their bills – with savings rising by the second year to more than the monthly payments. The solar subscription model is already popular across Europe with more than 6000 customers.
Just six per cent of UK households have solar compared to 25 per cent in the Netherlands, 22 per cent in Belgium and 9 per cent in Switzerland and Austria.
Chris Hewett, Chief Executive of Solar Energy UK, said: “It is great to see more options becoming available for consumer solar. Offering different ways to access affordable capital for clean energy is a great way to increase take-up and spread the benefits of solar to more and more homes. We are talking to policy makers about ways to encourage more such initiatives.”
Otovo UK general manager Jina Kwon added: “Our subscription product changes the entire British solar market. Subscriptions immediately make solar accessible to most homeowners across the UK through a low monthly payment with no down payment.
“We’ve eliminated the biggest barrier to solar: a large upfront cost, or lack of financing options. We offer a warranty for the full term of the subscription – up to 20 years – meaning customers no longer need to worry about quality of hardware and or installation.
“We want solar to be as accessible as possible and subscriptions in the UK – with the system being ultimately owned by the customer through our financing model – will significantly lower the barrier to entry and mean more households can make the switch. Customers could make savings from day one.”
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