Bosses of some of Britain's biggest retailers are discussing plans with the government to start selling plug-in solar panels as part of a drive to encourage more UK homes to generate their own electricity.
Executives from brands including Currys, B&Q and Amazon met Martin McCluskey, the minister for energy consumers, on Tuesday to discuss guidelines for selling “balcony solar panels†to the British public.
Asda, Screwfix and Wickes also attended the meeting to discuss how to help people living in flats or rented homes without rooftop access to benefit from the government's solar power strategy and cut their energy bills.
Plug-in solar panels can be placed on a balcony, terrace, shed roof or any other outdoor space to generate electricity that flows directly into the electrical circuit of a house when plugged in through a standard three-prong plug. When an appliance is turned on it uses the solar power first.
This means households can run their electrical appliances without needing to buy as much power from the grid. Plug-in systems usually have a capacity of 800 watts, or one-fifth of the size of a typical residential rooftop solar system, so while they would be unable to power a house alone they could help to reduce bills.
Typically, a household could save up to £70-110 a year from installing plug-in solar, according to government research. The cost of plug-in systems are expected to start at about £400, meaning it would take between four to seven years to cover the initial outlay.
The government first set out plans to help households join the millions of people across Europe who generate their own electricity with “plug-in†panels in proposals last summer. It expects the devices to be available in stores in the coming months.
Plug-in panels can already be found on balconies across Spain and Germany where they are plugged directly into a power socket to generate solar electricity for the household without the need for professional installation. About 1.5m balconies in Germany have DIY panels, known as Balkonkraftwerk (balcony power plant).
McCluskey said: “Plug-in panels can be transformative for renters or those on lower incomes, so I welcome the conversation today with household names such as B&Q and Currys showing a huge amount of support for getting the panels in people's homes.
“This easy-to-install tech can cut people's bills and help make the UK less reliant on global fossil fuel markets.â€
The plug-in solar panel drive comes amid a surge of interest in home energy technologies that can help households cut bills.
Last year, a record 269,000 solar installations were completed in the UK, over a third more than in the previous year and the equivalent of a new rooftop solar installation every two minutes.
During the war in Iran, British households have turned in record numbers to green home energy upgrades such as solar panels, EV chargers and heat pumps to try to keep costs down even as global oil and gas prices soar.
Graham Bell, the chief executive of B&Q, which sells portable solar devices that charge a battery, said the retailer was “working closely with government and suppliers to understand and help shape the guidance, ensuring any products we offer are safe, compliant and straightforward to installâ€.
Bell added that plug-in solar would be available to customers “as soon as possibleâ€.
The introduction of plug-in solar is part of the government's wider goal of increasing the UK's renewable energy electricity to create a virtually carbon-free power system by the end of the decade. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, hopes to grow the capacity of UK solar farms from 18GW at present to between 45GW and 47GW by the end of the decade, enough electricity to power the equivalent of about 12m typical UK homes.
Ministers are also working to increase Britain's rooftop solar on the canopies of large outdoor car ports and the rooftops of warehouse and factory roofs. Using just 20% of the UK's biggest warehouses for solar panels could provide up to 15GW of solar capacity – or half the planned growth by the end of the decade, according to the government's clean power plan.
