Should taxpayers pay for solar panels to be installed on homes?

Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay to install solar panels on homes, according to a man who changed the law to make it easier for flat owners to access clean energy.

Reg Platt started Emergent Energy in 2016 after spotting an overlooked area of electricity network rules. Working with Ofgem to change regulations in 2023, the start-up has now given flat owners more power to install solar panels in a bid to speed up efforts to decarbonise homes and reach UK net-zero targets.

Emergent Energy is now working with Hackney Council to install solar panels across 28 blocks of flats to supply 800 residents with discounted energy.

The firm’s model creates microgrids to help tenants put panels on their homes, rather than being restricted to communal areas before the regulation change. That lets residents save on bills and receive cash back from the grid’s savings.

Platt said the model has the potential to scale up and make accessing clean energy more equal than before. Leveraging commercial finance also offers the potential to speed up the UK’s green transition and insulate the vital work from changing political attitudes – such as Reform UK’s pledge to axe net-zero funding in DOGE-style cuts.

“The core problem that I was interested to solve when I founded the company was: how do we fund decarbonisation of housing without relying on government handouts?” said Platt, who previously worked for the IPPR think tank before putting his regulatory knowledge into action.