Solar is currently the cheapest source of electricity in the UK, yet fewer than 10% of households across the country currently have solar panels.
That is a huge missed opportunity not only for Britons struggling with the cost of energy but for the UK Government, whose ambitious net zero goals depend on nationwide decarbonisation.
Fuse Energy, Europe’s fastest growing energy company, has a solution that could put solar power in the hands of millions more UK citizens.
The London-based firm has today announced that Jules, a first-of-its-kind plug-in solar and battery storage system, is now available for pre-order in the UK.
The launch of Jules comes less than two months after the UK passed legislation in August allowing plug-in solar panels to be sold in the country for the first time.
Demand for the plug-in kits has been impressive since then with Octopus Energy, the UK’s premier energy provider, selling out of its stock multiple times.
The appeal of these systems is the democratising effect it has on solar energy.
Traditional solar arrays don’t, after all, work for everybody, including renters, flat dwellers or people with insufficient roof space.
That is to say nothing of the affordability of roof-mounted solar systems. According to Fuse, these systems often cost between £7,000 (US$9,300) and £8,000 (US$10,600) which is out of reach for many Britons.
Plug-in systems, on the other hand, are far less expensive. Single panel systems are available for as little as £330 (US$440) while dual panel kits can be found for around £450 (US$600).
The installation is simple, requiring only a garden, a wall or a balcony rather than a rooftop rig.
So, what makes Fuse’s new offering distinct?
Jules connects up to four 500W panels to a standard socket, which gives a combined output of 2,000W – the government mandated output limit for plug-in arrays.
The key difference between Jules and the other plug-in solar systems on the UK market today is its battery storage element.
Jules adds a 2.5kWh battery, so surplus power can be stored when it is cheap and used later when it is not.
Fuse’s own battery management software decides when to store power and when to use it.
It draws on solar forecasts, household usage and live prices, and the company says machine learning helps trim bills further still.
The software builds on the real-time system Fuse already uses to bill customers against half-hourly wholesale prices.
On cloudy days, Jules can also charge from the grid when electricity is at its cheapest, meaning it is always working in the owner’s favour.
Fuse’s announcement of the Jules system comes at a good time for UK customers. 
For the past few years, UK households have had to deal with sky-high energy prices as a result of three consecutive crises: the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war and the Strait of Hormuz crisis.
To help Britons cope with the rising cost of power, the government introduced an energy price cap, though that cap rose by 4% at the start of October, taking the average annual household energy bill to around £1,723 (US$2,290).
Having access to cheap solar power will therefore come as a relief to many UK households struggling with utility bills.
Widening access to solar energy is something Fuse’s Co-Founder and CEO, Alan Chang, is passionate about.
“Solar has been a club for homeowners with the right roof and eight grand to spare,” he says. 
“That’s backwards. It’s the cheapest power in Britain, and the only things stopping most households using it are cost and complexity.”
“Jules removes both and starts cutting bills from day one. We will keep reinvesting everything we make until low-cost, abundant power is the default for everyone.”
Co-Founder & CEO
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