Boom times for the UK’s residential solar market?

Consumers are being driven to solar for multiple reasons: lowering home energy costs, self-consumption in combination with hybrid and electric vehicles, and the push to make houses net-zero emitters.

One U.K. firm has said it is seeing up to a 1,000% surge in orders in the past weeks for solar modules, as energy prices have reportedly trebled since 2001, with the average cost of domestic gas rising by 221%, compared to 193% for electricity, according to one market report.

“People are getting in touch with us every day; we’ve seen an unbelievable spike in orders as they want to get away from traditional energy and move to renewables, despite no Government incentives because they were scrapped several years ago,” said Carbon Net Zero managing director Gareth Jones.

The U.K.’s take-up of solar has been stilted. In 2020, solar generation grew just 4.6% year-on-year, according to the Digest of UK Energy Statistics, including utility-scale options. Limited incentives have been provided to U.K. households and small businesses by policymakers, with concerns over taxation and understanding of benefits.

“[The Government[ should be helping people who are looking at long-term future-proofing of their homes, use different strategies hand in hand and do so sustainably, to avoid mistakes being repeated. I think the Government has its priorities wrong,” continued Jones.

As far as supply chain issues might be impacting solar modules stocks, no such concerns have yet materialized for Carbon Net Zero: “We are in a strong position and have plenty of stock in store, so there are no supply chain issues, unlike many sectors struggling to obtain materials,” said Jones. “There has never been a better time to switch to solar.”