“Just common sense”: Ed Miliband confirms historic regulation to promote domestic solar

It’s official! As of Friday June 6th, ministers have confirmed that the Future Homes Standard to be published this autumn will include a requirement to install rooftop solar on the vast majority of new British homes. 

Why is this significant news?  Because it stands to lower yearly energy bills for the average new homeowner by roughly £530! 

“Today marks a monumental step in unleashing this rooftop revolution as part of our Plan for Change, and means new homeowners will get lower bills with clean home-grown power,” Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change the Rt Hon Ed Miliband said as part of a statement released by the Government. 

This represents the first time that building regulations will be explicitly amended to promote solar energy, and will lead to solar panels on almost all new homes. 

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Miliband told journalists that doing so is ‘just common sense,’ and explained that there will be only rare exemptions in cases where shade or other factors would make a solar system ineffective. 

As a leading supplier committed to making new energy work for both the climate and consumers, we agree that there’s every reason to put solar panels on as many new homes as possible, which is why for five years now we’ve been investing in just that. 

Back in 2020, we were proud to invest in a 49% share in Eco2Solar – the UK’s largest residential solar installation company – and this year were even more excited to acquire the whole company. 

Having started in 2007, Eco2Solar now work with some of the country’s largest property developers including Barratt Redrow, Taylor Wimpey, Wain Homes, Keepmoat, and Persimmon, carrying out large-scale projects involving hundreds of new homes at a time. 

To date, they’ve installed solar panels on roughly 50,000 UK roofs, helping to generate more than 85 million kWh of renewable energy, but this is only the beginning. As a part of E.ON working to fulfil the requirements of the Future Homes Standards while supporting the Government’s targets for new homes, Eco2Solar is set to make a major contribution to the UK’s clean energy future. 

In addition to rooftop solar, the Government has also proposed changes to equip new homes with low-carbon heating such as heat pumps, which will build on recent legislation to make it easier for homeowners to install the devices in their homes. 

As Housing and Planning Minister the Rt Hon Matthew Pennycook said: “The Future Homes Standard will ensure new homes are modern and efficient with low-carbon heating, while our common-sense planning changes will now make it easier and cheaper for people to use heat pumps and switch to EVs so they can play their part in bolstering our nation’s energy security.” 

According to polling we commissioned from YouGov earlier this year, 78% of the public take the same view as the Rt Hon Ed Miliband that “all new houses built in the UK should have green technologies such as solar installed as standard. And more than three quarters agree that “It’s good for energy companies with direct experience installing devices such as solar PV and heat pumps to be involved in making sure new build homes are energy efficient.” 

Friday's announcement was excellent news, and a significant step to making new energy work. We’re delighted the Government has committed to making sure future homes will be equipped with rooftop solar, and proud to be in a position as the owner of Eco2Solar to help make this happen. 

Find out more about E.ON’s acquisition of Eco2Solar here.