Now is the perfect time to go green.Switching to electric cars, installing solar panels on the roof or installing heat pump ducts is not just a way to get rid of the carbon emissions of modern life.As energy bills skyrocket, these technologies can also reduce annual fuel and energy bills by hundreds of pounds.
But if you’ve been struggling to put your green ambitions into action, rest assured, you’re not alone.I have found that efforts by households across the country to reduce their carbon footprint have been thwarted by unreliable supply chains, long delays, Brexit bureaucracy and high prices.
National Grid’s energy manager Matthew Goldberg has been struggling for weeks to get a quote for a rooftop solar installation on his Berkshire home, but said he was “spooked” by the company that was overrunning.”I couldn’t get anyone to call me back or make an offer,” he told me.”Even ads on Facebook have been removed, or prices have gone up suddenly.”
Mr Goldberg is not alone.The sharp spike in electricity prices has sparked a flurry of inquiries about rooftop solar installations across the country as people look to reduce their reliance on the grid.
According to the Energy Savings Trust, a typical home with solar installed can now save up to £440 a year in energy bills by using home-grown electricity instead of grid electricity – more days if solar arrays are paired with batteries to store electricity Use after dark.
The prime minister announced in his spring statement that VAT on energy-efficient products such as rooftop solar and batteries would be cut to zero from 20%, which came into effect this month, further boosting solar demand.
The surge in demand has made it difficult for businesses — many of which scaled back after subsidies were cut in 2019 — to keep up.
Cornwall-based rooftop solar installer Naked Solar has received a flood of enquiries since news of the energy price cap hike in early February.A spokesperson told i that the company has 400 pending inquiries still pending and employees simply don’t have time to deal with them.Even with inquiries, it can take up to eight months for customers to see their solar panels installed.
Installers across the country face similar challenges.Danny Edward, who runs solar installer Save Heat Energy in County Durham, said he has gone from getting one enquiry a month to two or three a day.While his team has doubled the installation speed, customers have to wait twice as long as usual for systems to be installed, he said.
While the supply of solar panels is coming through, companies like Mr Edwards are also battling a shortage of batteries and electrical components needed to install solar storage systems.
Over the past two years, the Covid-19 outbreak has killed production of vital computer chips for everything from gaming consoles to battery storage units, triggering a global shortage that has been exacerbated by surging demand and shortages of raw materials.
Just this week, the installation of the solar-plus-storage system had to be delayed at the last minute because the promised batteries had not yet arrived in the country, Mr Edward said.”The stock issue is one big thing, and that’s the battery,” he said.”Many of the key features of the kit are in short supply.”
Supply chain issues are also affecting the heat pump market, just as demand is expected to increase with the introduction of a boiler upgrade scheme, which will cost homeowners £5,000 in air source heat pumps from this month.
Industry insiders blame chip shortages, disruptions in the global shipping industry and delays related to Brexit.On top of that, Europe’s generous subsidies for heat pumps have pulled down supplies to the continent, they said.
This affects installers’ ability to roll out clean heating systems.Paul Leeedham is Managing Director of Matrix Energy Systems, a Nottinghamshire based solar and heat pump installer.He said he had a hard time getting some brands of heat pumps.”Some of the larger [brands] have 15-week lead times,” he told me.”It’s been over three months. It’s ridiculous.”
“Everything is currently taking longer to deliver,” agrees Jonathan Hawes of Kent solar and heat pump installer SGS Energy.“Before Covid-19, I could place an order and I could tell my customers with 100% guarantee that it would arrive within 24-48 hours,” he said.”The attitude right now is, ‘You pay, you take the chance, and when it gets here, we’ll come to terms with it.’”
Wholesalers say they are going all out to increase market supply.Jeremy Climas is Head of Renewable Energy at Midsummer, a Cambridge-based wholesaler of renewable energy products, including solar photovoltaics and heat pumps.”We’ve had to nearly triple in size over the past year to meet demand and are still hiring for almost all positions,” he told i.
But the delays are especially worrisome for families looking to apply for grants under the new boiler upgrade scheme, which gives homeowners only three months to complete work once vouchers are issued.
Some engineers warn that this time pressure could force homeowners to choose alternative heat pump models that aren’t suitable for their properties, based solely on availability.
A shortage of trained staff was also a major factor in installation delays.Octopus Energy may be training hundreds of new heat pump engineers for its rollout, but there is still a shortage of skilled labor in the rest of the industry.
In the UK, there are only 1,200 heat pump installers, compared with 96,000 gas engineers, according to the Independent Network Association.By mid-century, it will take about 10 times as much to meet the government’s clean heating goals.
But SGS Energy’s Mr Hawes said convincing existing heating engineers to retrain was an uphill battle.
“We are looking for experienced heating engineers,” he said.”Most of the experienced heating engineers we want are in their 40s or 50s [and] don’t want to get out of doing gas [jobs]. It’s what they know, and it’s easy.”
Ken Bone, a technical engineer at Surrey-based renewable energy company Your Energy Your Way, said there was little financial incentive for gas engineers to retrain.”If a guy with a multi-boiler can make three boilers a week, two large each, he’ll make a lot more money than I do,” he said.
A new low carbon heating apprenticeship scheme will be launched later this year, which will increase the number of new workers entering the heat pump industry next year.But at the same time, an industry lacking equipment and skilled labor means customers are struggling to find available installers.Some installers are now booked until the end of June to install the boiler upgrade program.
It’s not just expensive green equipment like heat pumps and batteries that prove difficult to get.Pete Hughes, 34, owns a two-bedroom terraced house in Bristol.He has been trying to replace five single-glazed windows in his home with double-glazed uPVC since October 2021, but is struggling to find a supplier with free time quotes.
“It’s a real struggle because the suppliers are busy,” he told me.”Even if you can get in touch with them, delivery times have been increasing.”
Risa’s assessment manager Lee Galley said delivery times for double-glazed windows and doors nationwide jumped from four weeks to 20 weeks last year, while prices rose by at least 20 per cent.Check newly installed windows and doors to make sure they comply with regulations.
“We have more demand and less supply, and it’s a bad combination,” he said, blaming post-Brexit paperwork and material shortages for limiting supply.These problems will continue, he predicts: “The scarcity economy is the new normal. I don’t see it getting better.”
Double glazing is a win-win – making the house warmer, more efficient, and increasing its value.And once the installer is found, it’s usually a relatively simple switch.
But for homeowners who need more expensive and cumbersome energy efficiency measures, such as wall or floor insulation, confusion is ubiquitous.There is little clear information on where homeowners should go to find out if their property would benefit more from cavity wall insulation or new windows, exterior cladding or interior insulation.
“Having the right information about what’s best for their property is critical,” stressed Builders Federation chief executive Brian Berry.”[But] at the moment, homeowners are struggling to find that information.
“So, if you get the right information, can you get the right people to do the job? There’s a shortage of builders, there’s still a need for more builders to understand the energy performance of buildings, and at a time of great demand, Cowboys There is a market for builders to enter.”
That was before the question of cost was even raised.With the Green House Grant being withdrawn after just six months of operation, there is no general subsidy scheme to improve energy efficiency in the UK, despite research showing that more than 19 million households in the UK need to work to make them suitable for heat pumps.
With the exception of those who are fuel-starved or live in social housing, households are expected to pay the total cost of installing energy efficiency upgrades – a job that can easily run into the tens of thousands of pounds.Industry experts say more help is needed, perhaps in the form of interest-free loans, to help households invest in net-zero housing.
Outside the home, the challenges continue.Electric vehicle sales are surging, but those making a name for themselves with zero-emission wheels face a long wait.
Drivers looking to switch to electric vehicles may have to wait more than a year to arrive, according to data shared exclusively with i.A surge in global demand for electric vehicles coupled with a global shortage of microchips.The most popular car brands are the hardest hit, with UK buyers not expected to receive Tesla Model X and Model S until late 2023 and at least a year for the Volkswagen ID.3.
“Cars like the Volkswagen ID.3 that were offered for free 12 months ago are now waiting more than a year,” says Electrifying.com founder Ginny Buckley.”It boils down to a perfect storm of increased demand coupled with shortages of vital components due to global events.”
The current energy crisis threatens to trigger a phased change in the UK’s transition to net zero, pushing previously reluctant households to adopt greener technologies such as electric cars and solar panels.
But in today’s volatile market, families need to plan ahead and be prepared to compromise.For those looking to install rooftop solar, please be patient.Installers can speed up their rollouts as the days get longer, so the backlog should ease over the summer.
For heat pump customers, find an installer you trust – if the brand you’re after isn’t available, they’ll be able to help you choose an alternative heat pump.
Double glazing and extra insulation are relatively inexpensive ways to reduce your carbon footprint.Stick with standard white PVC for windows to reduce cost and shipping time, while simple jobs like filling attic insulation can be DIYed.
When it comes to EVs, if buyers are prepared to compromise on models and vehicle specs, there are ways to get around the delay.According to Electrifying.com, the Vauxhall Corsa-e, BMW i3 and Kia e-Niro are all immediately available electric models.For example, buy a BMW instead of a Tesla and you might be driving an electric car this weekend instead of next Christmas.
In the meantime, dealers may have some models in stock, Ms Buckley said: “It may not be the exact version you want, but if you’re willing to compromise on the finishing touches like colour and wheels, you could be in for a few days. You can get a car in less than a few months.”
Note: A previous version of this story stated that the VAT on solar and energy efficiency products has been reduced from 20% to 5%.VAT on these products will effectively drop to zero over the next five years.