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Home » Are solar PV and heat pumps a one-size-fits-all solution?
In his latest column, Martyn Bridges, Director of External Affairs at Worcester Bosch, asks whether solar PV and heat pumps will work for all households.
The figures are in for appliance sales through 2025, and heat pump sales appear to have exceeded 125,000 for the year. This is up from 98,000 installed in 2024, which is impressive growth, albeit from a relatively small base. If we compare that to the boiler market, it also showed a small growth of 1%, but the figures remain vast at 1.35 million units. While the boiler market is still dominant, heat pumps are certainly making inroads. Boiler sales have fallen from the giddy heights of 1.7 million in 2022 to 1.35 million just three years later. We are seeing a shift to lower carbon options, but how can this tech work harder for us?
The solar PV and heat pump duo
One of the best partnerships any homeowner can install is solar PV and a heat pump. Heat pumps are being promoted heavily by the government and currently enjoy a grant of £7,500 under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). Furthermore, the recent Warm Homes Plan (WHP) announced earlier this year has extended and guaranteed that grant until the end of the decade.
This is a confidence builder, to say the least. Also included within the WHP was confirmation that low-interest grants would be available for solar PV and battery storage, further cementing this partnership. Consequently, if you choose to change your home heating system from gas or oil to electricity, it is a sensible move to try and generate as much electricity as possible from your own roof to power that heat pump.
Increasing battery storage
The battery is a very important part of this combination as well, as solar power can charge the battery and fill it with electricity. Via smart tariffs you can also connect to low-cost electricity generally through the night and certainly sometimes during the day to further charge the battery and then again generate almost all of your heating for nothing.
If there was any difficulty with this combination, it’s likely just that two trades would be required to get this system going – one to install the solar and the battery, and of course, a heating engineer to install the heat pump. The good news is there are businesses setting themselves up to do both parts of this system in a turnkey type solution.
Can low-interest loans help with uptake?
Notwithstanding these obvious benefits, this is also the potential of obtaining low-interest loans. There’s a general reluctance from a lot of people to incur more debt, and obvious questions remain, such as what happens if I want to sell my house? Does the householder then have to pay off the outstanding amount of any loan they may have taken out to pay for the solar PV and batteries? Or does the loan stay with the house, and the purchaser of the property has to take over that loan? All these questions are still ambiguous in their answers, to which DESNZ hopes to provide clarity over the coming months.
The cost for consumers
One of the major barriers we’re still encountering with the take-up of heat pumps is the fact that it’s very difficult for us to go to market and clearly say to somebody, if you install a heat pump, you will save money over your current gas or oil heating source.
While a high-performing heat pump installation using specific tariffs normally provides a cost saving, the initial outlay is still making consumers scratch their heads, even with generous government grants.
The WHP disappoints somewhat by failing to address the fundamental unit price of gas versus electricity. It appears the government is trying to sidestep this by encouraging people to generate their own power via solar PV and batteries.
Is solar right for every household?
While solar power technology has evolved significantly since I installed it in my home 11 years ago, there are still limitations. In the Future Homes Standard (due to be announced this quarter), it is expected that all newbuild properties will be required to have solar PV installed.
That is a bit of a blunt instrument. While we are fortunate in our case to have a south-southwest-facing roof, a house heavily shaded by trees or adjacent buildings, or one that is north or east facing, will never achieve the same generation capacity. In theory, we can estimate how much solar a roof can generate, but it certainly isn’t a one size fits all solution.
Once again, it is plain to see that partnering solar PV, batteries, and heat pumps is a sensible move forward for those who can. However, I imagine most people will need to see concrete terms and conditions for these advancements before they fully commit to the promises of the Warm Homes Plan.
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