UK energy provider OVO and banking major HSBC have partnered to offer new financing options for homeowners to install low carbon technologies.
HSBC Flexipay will be available to OVO customers for solar installations and home battery storage systems, with options for heat pumps and EV chargers to follow. The offer will allow customers to pay for a solar system over three years with interest-free credit.
According to the companies, an average rooftop solar installation comes in at £9,000. After paying the deposit fee of £500, HSBC Flexipay customers would be able to pay off the installation at £236 a month (or at higher monthly cost for a shorter period).
Mark Robson, VP of commercial at OVO, said the utility’s customers report that cost is the biggest barrier to energy efficiency upgrades. He added: “By helping more people afford green technology, we will reduce energy costs in the longer term – and for good – while also helping to cut carbon.”
According to research carried out by advisory firm Strand Partners on behalf of OVO, 74% of consumers reported an interest in installing green technology but 75% felt the initial expense is too high.
Andy Rankin, interim head of unsecured lending at HSBC UK explained said the bank is “pleased” to partner with OVO on the initiative to offer access to solar panels.
He added that “moving into next year” the two will look to expand the offering further, “providing those buying a wide range of products the opportunity to benefit” from the flexible payment option.
OVO energy customers can access the offer regardless of who they bank with and can choose to buy a home battery alongside a solar array. OVO offers a smart energy tariff in partnership with energy software platform Kaluza that enables it to offer cheaper rates to its customers with home batteries from GivEnergy.
In July, OVO announced an expansion to its Beyond reward programme for customers. This programme allows customers to bank up to five free solar panels over the course of two years—half the amount needed to power the average household.
Equipping households with low carbon technologies
As Alok Dubey, regional director of western Europe for EV chargepoint management platform Monta, explained in a recent blog for Current±, it is easier to create homes with sustainable solutions in mind from the outset, as standard, rather than to retrofit legacy household systems.
While the government’s Future Homes Standard focuses on newbuild properties, action to support widespread retrofitting, particularly for low income and council properties. The UK government currently runs two schemes that support households to add energy-saving retrofits to their homes. The first, the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), is funded by the UK’s largest energy suppliers and provides eligible households with energy saving upgrades including solid wall, cavity wall, and loft insulation, as well as double glazing and draught proofing.
The second scheme, the Green Deal, is funded by the government itself and provides affordable finance packages to those seeking to install measures such as the aforementioned insulation, double glazing, and draught-proofing, as well as finance towards renewable energy generation such as solar panels or heat pumps.
Statistics show that around four million energy efficiency measures have been installed in around 2.5 million homes under the ECO up to the end of July 2024, while the Green Deal has seen the creation of 13,867 financial packages for energy efficiency upgrades. Of these, 4,893 plans have been fully paid off, while 8,974 plans are considered “live”, meaning all planned measures have been installed.
