Making solar the standard on new-build housing with Eco2Solar

With Spring getting off to a sunny start for much of the UK, there’s no better time to announce that, as of April 3rd, E.ON has signed an agreement to fully acquire Eco2Solar, a market leader in residential solar installations playing a major role in helping the UK harness the sunshine to help make energy more affordable and sustainable. 

In an effort to tackle the UK’s ongoing housing crisis, the Government has pledged to build 1.5 million new homes by the end of this parliament, and while these ambitious targets pose a challenge, they also present opportunities. Building so many new houses gives the UK an unprecedented chance to ensure that more people are living in quality, sustainable homes that are fully equipped for a net zero future and, crucially, will help lower their energy bills. 

This is why back in 2020 we were proud to acquire a 49% share in Eco2Solar – the UK’s largest residential solar installation company with a mission to “make solar standard” – and why we’re even more proud now to make the whole company a part of the E.ON family. 

Eco2Solar: Making solar standard 

Since its founding in 2007, Eco2Solar has installed solar panels on nearly 50,000 homes around the country, generating over 85 million kWh of green electricity for British homeowners – enough to make more than 2.7 billion cups of tea every year. 

The company started with installations for individual properties, but has since graduated to working with some of the country’s largest property developers including Barratt Redrow, Taylor Wimpey, Wain Homes, Keepmoat, and Persimmon, installing solar PV on hundreds of homes at a time. One recent project, for example, involved 377 new houses and 2,237 solar panels. 

When E.ON acquired its stake in the business back in 2020, Eco2Solar hadn’t only won confidence through the size of projects it undertook, but also its commitment to high quality and timely work, innovation, health and safety, training and skills, and inclusion. No wonder the prestigious Housebuilder Awards named them Best Subcontractor or Service Provider in both 2022 and 2024, cementing their reputation as a solar industry expert and key partner for developers looking to meet new sustainability regulations while building homes that are fit for the future. 

“My vision has always been to make solar standard and to change the way that we think about how we get our energy in this country,” said Paul Hutchens, Eco2Solar’s CEO. “E.ON UK and Eco2Solar have the opportunity and resources to create new models that will make solar and other sustainable technologies available to everyone.” 

As part of E.ON UK, Eco2Solar will benefit from the knowledge, resources, and operational strengths of one of the UK’s leading energy suppliers, driving growth in the domestic solar installation market for years to come while helping reduce housing sector emissions up and down the country. 

We are helping them scale their operations to meet both the opportunities and challenges posed by a fast-growing demand for solar in new homes – improving skills availability for both private and government projects – and will be able to do even more as the price of new solar panels continues to fall all the time. 

“This is another important, strategic step towards accelerating our growth in the new builds market while connecting residential customers to flexible energy solutions that help to lower their bills, and continuing to lead on the UK’s transition to clean energy,” said CEO of E.ON UK, Chris Norbury. “Having acquired a 49% stake in Eco2Solar five years ago, we have been helping developers deliver renewable energy solutions to reduce carbon emissions, and with the aim of making solar energy flexible and affordable for the many, not the few.” 

We want to see a Britain where as many properties as possible – commercial or residential – are taking advantage of solar PV to save money and play their part in the net zero transition. That’s why we're driving more and bigger installations through boosting businesses like Eco2Solar, collaborations with industry leaders such as Peel Ports, our own commercial offerings, energy saving upgrade schemes including ECO4, and innovative new concepts such as Energy Sharing Communities – because it’s on us to make new energy work. 

Find out more about Eco2Solar at their website, here.