LONDON — Andy Burnham’s government desperately wants to find ways to help Brits save money on soaring energy bills. The latest idea: Getting them to put mini solar panels on their balconies so they can generate their own power. From Thursday, the tech — already a success story in countries like Germany — will be available to buy in high street stores and install in U.K. properties for the first time.
Plug-in solar panels are “a simple, affordable way for households to take control of their energy bills and start saving straight away,” Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said. But to get there, ministers face a clutch of problems, including uncooperative landlords, safety fears, and hundreds of pounds in upfront costs. The technology was badged as a simpler solution for renters or other people without space at home for traditional rooftop panels.
People who want to install the kit may need permission from landlords, freeholders or councils, therefore. And some are already not playing ball. One housing association, Sovereign Network Group — which manages 86,000 homes across London and the south of England — said it has a blanket ban on letting residents install plug-in solar in the buildings it manages.
A third, L&Q, which manages over 105,000 properties, said it welcomed the potential of plug-in panels to help cut bills. But its Director of Health and Building Safety Steve Pettitt added: “As this technology is new, we're still considering the detail, including how it can be used safely in residents’ homes.” “Plug-in solar panels send electricity in the opposite direction in your property’s wiring,” said Luke Osborne, technical director of the charity Electrical Safety First. His organization has “concerns plug-in solar panels may damage older devices in people's homes which protect people from electric shock,” he warned.
Another trade association, the Electrical Contractors Association, warned ahead of the government's roll out that plug-in solar could “overload circuits — creating a risk of fire and electrical shocks — without careful checks by qualified electricians.” The government insisted plug-in solar is not intended for every home, and has been made legal only after “rigorous, independent safety testing,” using panels “safe and compatible with U.K. wiring.” “As a government, we are quite confident that the safety case is robust, and the additional work that we've done to assure ourselves of that is giving us the confidence to be able to legalize these in the U.K. and assure ourselves that they will be safe for people in their homes,” added Energy Minister Martin McCluskey. He said he had written to landlords to make the case for plug-in solar and hoped “that would be looked on favorably” by them. The government has flagged a detailed safety checklist as part of the roll-out.
The government reckons that each piece of kit could produce enough power to cover 20 percent of average household energy use, according to an announcement from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Wednesday. Ministers said the “easy-to-install” panels could save homes up to £110 per year in energy bills, part of Andy Burnham’s effort to give people some “breathing space” on the cost of living. The promise came on the same day the regulator announced household energy bills are set to rise once again from October, driven up by the war between the U.S., Israel and Iran.
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