Octopus, Vertol partner to provide ‘Zero Bills’ homes with solar

Octopus Energy has partnered with housebuilder Verto to roll out a “world first” Zero Bills agreement for housing developers with solar at its core.

The initiative, which will deliver a total of 70 homes across two sites in Cornwall and Exeter, will eliminate energy bills for newbuilds due to being kitted out with solar, batteries and heat pumps. In doing so, the Zero Bills retrofit initiative aims to prove that both new and existing builds can exist without energy bills.

The solar, battery storage and heat pump will combine to provide free, clean energy around the clock, while Octopus Energy will provide a bespoke tariff.

The rooftop solar is to generate electricity for the home and its heat pump, which provides all heating and hot water, while the battery storage will store any excess electricity the solar panels generate for later use.

Octopus hopes to have delivered 10,000 Zero Bills homes by 2025 across both the UK and Europe.

“We’re on a mission to make ‘Zero Bills’ the new standard for homes. By partnering with developers like Verto, we’re scaling this efficient green technology to homes everywhere while driving down costs for consumers,” said Michael Cottrell, Zero Bills homes director at Octopus Energy.

“The technology is already proven, but through Octopus’ proprietary offering we can now bring it all together and optimise it in new houses. Together with forward-thinking developers, we can make energy bills and home emissions a thing of the past.”

The homes will utilise Octopus’ proprietary technology platform ‘Kraken’.

Tom Carr, co-founder at Verto said: “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Octopus to launch the UK’s first fully Zero Bills developments. Verto has been delivering its Zero Carbon Smart Home product for over a decade: combined with Zero Bills, it represents a sea-change in sustainable housing. But this is just the beginning – we have several other exciting projects in the pipeline with Octopus, and we’re proud to be at the forefront of this movement.”

This article first appeared on Solar Power Portal's sister publication Current±.