How you can switch to solar for £0 upfront

What's Sunsave Plus and why did we launch it?

We've created Sunsave Plus, the UK’s first solar subscription, because we want to make solar accessible to all UK households.

There are three key reasons why Sunsave Plus has come at just the right time for people in the UK - here's a little more detail on each one.

1) High upfront costs

70% of UK households want to go solar, but so far only 4% have done so. That's an enormous gap, and the main reason is the upfront cost of buying solar panels is prohibitively high for most people. A typical solar & battery system today costs around £10,000, whereas one half of UK households have less than £5,000 in savings (FCA, 2023).

Sunsave Plus means you can own a solar & battery system without paying anything upfront, and instead make fixed monthly payments for 20 years. You'll instantly start saving on your energy bills and sell any excess energy to the grid.

In many cases, your energy bill savings could exceed your monthly payments to Sunsave, meaning more money in your pocket.

2) Lack of maintenance support

A 2021 UK government study discovered that 55% of people who aren't keen on solar were worried about the ongoing maintenance, and more than 40% said a guarantee scheme would allay these concerns – so we created one.

Sunsave Plus comes with the Sunsave Guarantee - 20-years of support including free replacement parts, monitoring and maintenance support, and downtime cover. Your system will also be fully insured by Aviva against damage, fire and theft. This is really important, as some technical experts in the industry estimate that a solar & battery system will require three maintenance call-outs across a 20-year period - one for the panels, one for the battery, and one for the inverter.

And each call-out can add substantially to the cost – not to mention the hassle of finding a reliable solar engineer to help every time.

3) Rising electricity bills

Making solar accessible to all households will only become more necessary as the electrification of the UK continues to accelerate over the coming decades.

To make our homes more energy-efficient and cut carbon emissions, we'll end up growing our electricity usage by 50% between 2020 and 2035, according to the independent Climate Change Committee's Sixth Carbon Budget, as heat pumps and electric vehicles become a fixture of people's homes across the country.

To power your heating, devices, and car, you'll need much more electricity - and this rise in demand for electricity is very likely to push up the cost of your energy bills. Solar energy is the solution.

What's unique about Sunsave Plus?

The Sunsave Guarantee

Every Sunsave Plus subscription comes with the Sunsave Guarantee - a 20-year support and aftercare package that provides you with total peace of mind. Once installed, you can rest assured that you’ll have a consistent supply of clean, green electricity for the next 20 years. It's a comprehensive package that includes:

• A 30-year performance warranty on your solar panels
• A free battery replacement once it performs at less than 70% of its original capacity – which typically happens after 10-12 years
• A free inverter replacement whenever required (usually after 10-12 years)
• 24/7 monitoring of your system, including alerting you if something isn’t working
• Troubleshooting of any issues and management of any warranty claims
• Insurance - your system is insured by Aviva against damage, fire, and theft
• Downtime protection, meaning we’ll compensate you for any prolonged period that your system isn’t working as it should

To find out more about the Sunsave Guarantee, check out our full guide.

Why is Sunsave Plus better than a loan or a roof lease?

Sunsave Plus is fundamentally better than a roof lease or a loan. Here's why:

How is it better than a roof lease?

Unlike a roof lease, we’ve designed Sunsave Plus so that you legally own your system from day one, and it immediately becomes part of the fabric of your property. We don’t need any rights to your roof for any period of time because the system is yours. 

This means you’re completely free to sell your home whenever you want, unencumbered – you don’t need to check your contract or ask Sunsave for permission.

You won’t run into any of the issues that mortgage lenders have with roof leases, and you'll have the flexibility to choose what happens when you move home: you can either pass on the agreement to the new homebuyer, or include the value of your system in the price of your property and pay off the subscription early.

And because you own the system, any export income it generates is yours. You are free to choose whichever export tariff is best for you, and in most cases we will recommend Intelligent Octopus Flux, which pays a higher rate than any other tariff and uses smart battery controls to maximise the value of your system. 

The fact you can definitely earn export income – unlike roof leases, where it's not a given – means your system may be more attractive to incoming homebuyers, and you’ll likely see a greater boost to your property’s value whenever it comes to moving home.

In addition, some solar products that need a roof lease are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), meaning they don’t have to adhere to high standards set by the FCA when it comes to treating customers fairly. 

In contrast, Sunsave is fully authorised and regulated by the FCA, whose Consumer Duty requires us to deliver good outcomes for our customers. 

How is it better than a loan?

The 20-year span of Sunsave Plus sets it apart from solar loans in the UK, which usually only stretch to 10 years – and the 0% interest loans are typically just two or three years long.

Spreading the payments over 20 years allows you to keep your monthly costs so low that your savings may be higher, meaning you can make an immediate return.

And unlike many loans, you can pay off your principal at any time, without incurring penalties or additional interest.

Sunsave Plus comes with the Sunsave Guarantee, a 20-year commitment to provide you with 24/7 monitoring and maintenance, free replacement parts, and downtime cover. Your system will also be insured by Aviva against damage, fire and theft.

The industry standard is a two-year workmanship guarantee, which isn't enough for a solar panel system's minimum 25-year lifespan.

What’s going to happen to UK energy bills?

Even before the energy crisis, electricity prices have increased by 5.5% each year on average since 2000. Nobody can predict the future, but they are expected to remain high until at least the late 2030s.

With Sunsave Plus, your monthly payments are fixed, so you’re protected against inflation from rising energy bills and your savings will increase over time. And after 20 years, your payments end and all the electricity generated is free.

Will Sunsave Plus work all year round?

Solar panels work all through the year — even in the UK! All they need is a bit of daylight. Your solar panels generate the most energy in summer. This is when you’ll sell the most excess electricity to the grid. Your solar panel output will drop in winter, but won’t stop completely. You’ll just need to top up with electricity from the grid.

Next steps

Many people around the world have benefited from solar subscriptions - particularly in Germany, the US, Spain and New Zealand - and now it's here to unlock solar for UK households.

Solar is a powerful way to save money and reduce your carbon footprint, and there’s no reason people should be excluded due to high upfront costs.

To find out how much you could save with Sunsave Plus, answer a few quick questions below and we'll be in touch.

Sunsave Plus: FAQs