As we enter the New Year, more and more energy companies are announcing price increases, making it increasingly difficult to fend off the icy weather. Homeowners are always on the lookout for ways to cut the price of their energy bill, which is where free solar PV company HomeSun comes in.

Experts have recently warned that energy bills are set to double every five years which by 2016 would mean as much as a £2,000 annual bill for a family in a three-bedroom house.

Daniel Green, CEO at HomeSun said, “Free and low cost solar energy with HomeSun instantly cuts your electricity bills and helps protect you from future price rises.  With a potential annual saving of 30% or more, and government-backing through the feed-in tariff, we’d encourage every homeowner to check in with us to see if their roof is eligible for a free or low cost solar system.”

HomeSun currently offers three different ways of producing your own energy, one of which is of course the free installation of solar panels. This option is based on HomeSun receiving the Government-backed feed-in tariff (FiT), and the homeowner receiving free electricity.

Subject to eligibility criteria, HomeSun will install a solar PV system completely free of charge, and maintain that system for 25 years free of charge. The value of the system installed is around £18,000.

Eligibility criteria for Free Solar include:

  • Due south-facing roof
  • As far south and west in the country as possible
  • No shading – even 3% of shading can reduce efficiency by 25%
  • 30m2 of clear pitched roof space
  • Not a slate roof

The company also offers the SolarShare option, which is again based on HomeSun receiving the Government-backed FiT, and the homeowner receiving free electricity, and free maintenance for 25 years. The difference is that SolarShareis for slightly less perfect solar roofs, so, since the FiT is lower, there is a small cost of SolarShare to the homeowner. The value of the system installed is around £11,000 and the cost to the homeowner is a one-off fee of £500 plus £5 per month for the duration of the contract.

  • Eligibility criteria include:
  • Southeast to southwest facing roof
  • As far south and west in the country as possible
  • No shading – even 3% of shading can reduce efficiency by 25%
  • 20m2 of clear pitched roof space
  • Not a slate roof

The third alternative, applicable to most free solar companies, is the option to purchase the system out of ones own pocket. The customer then benefits from both the FiT payments and the free electricity.

Alan Cotton a retired Engineer from Newport in the Isle of Wight, who has just installed a free system said, “I have found since the solar panels have been fitted that the saving at the moment is over 35%, which is brilliant!” He has been monitoring his meter four weeks before and after installation and found that his electricity dropped from £25.24 to £16.55 in November despite the harsh winter conditions.