Welcome to The Circuit series. Meet our next interviewee:
Between soaring energy costs, made all the worse by constant geopolitical escalations, and the constant looming threat of a climate disaster, it has become generally accepted that renewable power must become the standard.
But despite vocal intentions from policymakers to support the mass adoption of clean energy, the exact process of removing our reliance on fossil fuels remains a point of confusion and concern for many consumers.
Solar energy, for example has been available for years now, but only a small minority of households in the UK have so far installed panels, with the cost of installation and equipment being a major barrier. Through this barrier, however, emerged one of the UK’s most rapidly growing energy tech startups, Sunsave.
In this exclusive interview with UKTN, Sunsave co-founder Alick Dru discussed the vast demand for solar power in the UK, why historical barriers to adoption of solar are being challenged daily, and why all in all the future of solar is bright.
Sunsave, which last year raised over £100m in funding, offers solar panel installation on a subscription basis, the idea being that by removing the hefty upfront costs, the company can encourage greater adoption of the technology.
How advanced is solar adoption in the UK?
While last year was actually a record year for solar installations, and the highest domestic installation number in over a decade, the bigger picture is still one of untapped potential.
Around 70% of UK households say they would consider installing solar panels, yet only about 6% have actually done so. That gap tells you that this isn’t a demand problem and people want solar.
The issue is that the market has not yet made it easy or affordable enough for the average household. If you compare the UK to markets like Australia or the Netherlands, we are significantly behind.
The government’s Solar Roadmap, published last summer, set a target to almost triple solar capacity by 2030. The recent Warm Homes Plan has gone further by recognising that financing is a critical barrier and proposing loan schemes to address it, so policy is moving in the right direction.
Where I think we’re at an inflection point is in the shift from solar being seen as something for early adopters, characterised as people with strong environmental convictions and the savings to back it up, to something that makes straightforward financial sense for all households.
That shift is being driven by a combination of falling hardware costs, rising energy bills, and the emergence of financing models that remove the upfront cost barrier. But we still have a long way to go before solar is anywhere close to reaching its potential in the UK.
What are the main barriers for people adopting solar power, and how is Sunsave helping?
The barriers broadly fall into three categories: cost, perceived risk, and inconvenience.
Cost is the most significant. A typical solar and battery system still costs upwards of £10,000 upfront. For most households, that’s simply not a realistic outlay, even if the long-term savings are compelling.
Unlike other major home improvements, there’s historically been very little financial support available to help bridge that gap. The result is that solar has, until recently, been accessible only to those with deep pockets or strong enough conviction to justify the investment.
Then there’s perceived risk. Solar is still relatively unfamiliar to a lot of homeowners, and as with any major investment in your home, there’s a natural hesitation.
Will the panels actually perform as promised? What happens if something breaks in year five or year ten? Who do I call to fix them? For many people, the answers to those questions are not clear enough, and that uncertainty is enough to stop them from moving forward.
The third barrier is a perception that the whole process is going to be complicated and disruptive. People imagine weeks of scaffolding, multiple home visits, and having to become an energy expert overnight. In reality, the installation process is far more straightforward than most people expect, but that perception persists.
At Sunsave, our subscription model is designed to address all three of these at once. We remove the upfront cost entirely, customers pay a fixed monthly amount and own their system from day one.
That last point is important because, unlike older ‘rent-a-roof’ or lease models, our customers aren’t renting someone else’s equipment on their own roof.
That comprehensive long-term support takes the risk and guesswork out of it completely. The customer journey itself is simple and hassle-free, without the drawn-out process that people often expect.
The results speak for themselves. Our customers are seeing net savings of over £685 a year on their energy bills, and we’ve been growing at over 60% quarter on quarter since launching our subscription product in January 2024. That growth rate shows that when you genuinely remove the barriers, the demand is there.
Are home solar panels a solution for surging household energy bills?
Yes, and it’s one of the few solutions that actually puts control back in the hands of households.
Energy bills remain around 40% higher than they were in 2020. Even with various government interventions, households are exposed to a volatile energy market, and they have very little ability to influence what they pay. Every time the price cap shifts, millions of households are left adjusting their budgets around a number they have no control over.
Solar fundamentally changes that dynamic. When you’re generating your own electricity from your roof, you’re reducing your reliance on the grid and on the wholesale energy prices that drive those fluctuations.
It doesn’t make you entirely self-sufficient, but it massively reduces your exposure to shifting prices. We’re seeing some customers cut their energy costs by more than £685 a year – that’s a net saving, after accounting for their subscription payment.
What’s also worth noting is that solar and battery technology have reached a level of maturity where they’re reliable, proven, and increasingly affordable. Unlike some other renewable technologies, there are no planning delays, no grid connection bottlenecks, and no waiting years for infrastructure.
You can have panels on your roof within weeks and start saving immediately. In terms of speed of impact for individual households, there’s really nothing else that compares.
Do you see solar panels eventually being a standard fixture for UK households?
I do, and I think the trajectory is already clear if you look at where policy and economics are heading.
The government has signalled this direction with the Future Homes Standard, which will require solar on the vast majority of new-build homes. For existing homes, the economics are becoming harder to ignore – as hardware costs continue to fall and energy prices remain elevated, the payback period keeps shortening.
We’re rapidly approaching the point where not having solar on a suitable roof is the financially irrational choice.
The analogy I would draw is with broadband. Twenty years ago, it was a nice-to-have; now it is considered essential household infrastructure.
Solar is on a similar trajectory. The technology works, the economics are proven, and the only question is how quickly the remaining barriers, primarily around upfront cost and perceived risks, can be addressed.
What gives me confidence is how we are seeing our customer profile change. Our customers increasingly are not people who would describe themselves as particularly environmentally minded. They are pragmatic homeowners who have looked at their energy bills, done the maths, and concluded that solar makes sound financial sense.
How has Sunsave developed since securing its major investment round last year and what’s to come?
The £113m round last summer was a transformative moment for the business.
The round was oversubscribed, with all major existing investors following on or increasing their stakes, which we took as a strong signal that the model is working.
Since then, we have continued to scale rapidly. We have rolled out solar to homes across England and Wales, and demand continues to outstrip our expectations.
Our customers are already saving on their energy bills, and most are seeing their savings exceed their subscription cost from day one.
Looking further ahead, our long-term vision is to become the UK’s first all-in-one home energy platform. Solar is the starting point, but over time, we will expand into complementary services, from EV chargers to heat pumps, and intelligent software that helps customers optimise their energy use and tariffs.
The goal is to bring hardware, software, and financing together in one place, helping households become genuinely more energy self-sufficient.
