AMID all the current interest in obtaining free installation of solar PV panels IF you have a suitable south-facing roof on your home, another company has entered the fray with a compelling offer to consumers.

HomeSun, the free power company, is looking for 100,000 homes to install solar panels for free over the next 3 years, 2000 of which will be in the next 12 months, it says.

This offer, announced on 5 August, has produced a staggering response – with more than 40,000 customer enquiries flooding into the company, 80 per cent via the HomeSun website, where a simple tool helps people identify whether their home is suitable for the free offer or an alternate paid-for system.

HomeSun is one of a number of companies making similar free offers to homeowners – but its simple buyout scheme allows customers anytime within the 25-year contract term to pay for the cost of the equipment, based on monthly residual valuation model.

Bill Sneyd, HomeSun’s Chief Operating Officer told Home Zero Home: “We make it very simple for our customers and we are very upfront about explaining that it is simple to pay for the equipment at anytime during the contract should they wish, or if their financial circumstances change to make this possible.

“The buyout price is determined with a starting retail cost of the equipment, which for the larger 3.5kWp system in our free offer averages out at around £15,000, so using that as the day one valuation, the cost to buyout is this figure less £50 per month for each month the contract has been in force.”

Mr Sneyd gave Home Zero Home this example:

• Customer A’s solar PV equipment is installed by HomeSun at their home on a south-facing, unshaded roof.  They benefit from cheaper electricity immediately and feel good about being a  ‘green’ energy early adopter.

• The retail cost of the equipment on day one of the 25 year contract (300 months) is £15,000.

• After ten years (120 months), Customer A decides they would like to take up HomeSun’s option to buy the equipment, and in turn get the benefit of the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) revenue directly.

• HomeSun establishes the buyout price of the equipment to be £15,000 minus £50 X 120 months (£6,000) = £9,000 and communicates this to Customer A.

• Customers A pays £9,000 to HomeSun and the contract is terminated.

HomeSun operates on an increasingly familiar business model (becoming known as the ‘rent a roof’ model) whereby they install the solar PV kit for free and then maintain it for 25 years as part of a contract with the homeowner.  Costs for solar PV equipment (typically a 3kwh system) vary and Home Zero Home has been quoted prices from £11,000 to £16,000 but prices should decrease in time.

In turn, over the contract term, the companies recoup the initial investment in the equipment and generate an ongoing revenue from the UK’s generous Feed-in-Tariff (FiT), which was introduced in April this year.

The Feed-in-Tariff is enshrined in law and ensures that electricity companies pay a fee per unit of electricity for the energy generated in homes from renewable sources, such as solar.  Such tariffs are commonplace in other countries, such as Germany where they were introduced in 2000, and are used as an incentive to encourage take-up and use of renewable energy technologies and in turn decrease carbon emissions.

The benefits to homeowners who take up offers such as HomeSun’s are: the chance to be an early adopter in the green energy revolution; zero upfront cost outlay on the equipment; and cheaper electricity bills – approximately a 30 per cent plus decrease depending on particular usage factors and the quality of your home insulation.  Indeed, Home Zero Home would highly recommend that you survey and improve your home’s insulation at the same time as installing any renewable energy source.  That way, you will maximise energy efficiency and utility savings.

HomeSun’s contract, like those offered by Isis Solar and A Shade Greener, transfer with ownership should you move home within the 25-year term, passing to the new owner once a sale is completed – and a solar powered home is potentially a positive factor in making a property attractive to a purchaser.

Daniel Green, CEO at HomeSun, said at the time of launch of HomeSun’s offer: “Solar power is natural, free and clean – and it’s the price which has slowed widespread take-up.  We are changing that – today is the beginning of a new era as HomeSun takes solar power out into the mainstream. As oil becomes the new tobacco, more and more people are looking for a clean & renewable solution – but it has to be a head and heart decision.   Finally, with HomeSun, solar makes sense both financially and environmentally.”

To find whether you qualify for free installation contact a HomeSun consultant on 0844 770 9922 or visit www.homesun.com

Related Articles

• HomeSun To Give Free Solar Panels to 2.5M Households (solarfeeds.com)
• HomeSun to offer free solar panel installations to UK households (newstatesman.com)
• Be wary of ‘solar for free’ offers, householders told (guardian.co.uk)
• HomeSun To Offer Free Solar Panel Installations To UK Households (solar.energy-business-review.com)
• UK start up announces £1bn solar panel “giveaway” (businessgreen.com)
• Free solar panels sound good, but buying them yourself is better (guardian.co.uk)