Residential energy services company Hometree has secured a £250m asset-backed debt facility from Barclays to finance more than 28,000 residential solar PV systems, battery storage and heat pumps in the UK over the next two years.
The partnership will support Hometree in achieving its 2030 target of decarbonising more than one million homes by 2030. According to the organisation, consumers looking to install renewable energy sources are facing challenges in the UK and across Europe.
Research from Nottingham Trent University in Britain shows that up to a third of British households cannot afford renewable energy technology and that UK government support schemes are declining.
Across the Channel, LCP Delta revealed that last year 43% of European solar customers purchased a solar PV system with financing. However, financing products specific to this market in Europe have so far been extremely limited. Instead, consumers rely on personal loans and credit cards to finance installations, which are often not purpose-built for renewable energy sources and thus have high interest rates.
It’s worth noting that Hometree Finance already offers solar and battery leases and will start offering heat pump financing later this year, while it will also release an unsecured loan product targeting the third quarter by 2024. The company also expects to launch the UK’s first public financing for renewables. market transaction within two years.
Simon Phelan, founder and CEO of Hometree, said: “Homeowners in the UK want to decarbonise their homes, not only because it is good for the planet, but also because they want greater security and lower energy bills. However, the upfront installation costs are unaffordable for most people, despite the benefits that solar panels, batteries and heat pumps can bring. At Hometree we are happy to solve this.
“The participation of the financial sector is fundamental to accelerating the massive infrastructure upgrade our homes need to reduce their carbon emissions. This transaction allows us to offer our customers a unique solution that would otherwise not be available in the UK market.”
This article first appeared in our sister publication Current±.
