Rooftop solar panels are gaining popularity as the UK faces higher energy prices. But lower-income people are being left behind once again.
The prospect of further price increases was enough to convince Topham that he needed to reduce his dependence on the electricity grid. In March he took the plunge and ordered three wall-mounted batteries and 20 solar panels—12 of them to be wired up directly and the other eight as backup in case he wanted more capacity later down the line.
The gas price crisis is pushing forward what the UK needed anyway: more solar panels on rooftops. In 2021 the UK’s electricity grid operator set outthe UK’s energy sector could follow to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Two of them required a tenfold increase in rooftop solar panels by 2050. The third envisaged a fivefold increase. “All else equal, we need people to be installing solar panels,” says Eoghan McKenna, a senior research associate at University College London’s Energy Institute.
In other words only people who can afford the hefty upfront cost of solar panels are able to insulate themselves from high energy prices. Topham’s solar panel and battery setup cost £17,500 , which he covered in part through a loan. In Hampshire, Rachel Rombough says she may be able to apply for a local council grant for the solar panels she is considering installing, but that the final decision will rest on whether or not her husband gets a bonus.
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