Ikea Just Started Selling Solar Panels

It looks like Ikea is going beyond furniture and home goods—the Swedish brand is releasing a new Solar Battery Storage solution, created to help people save on energy bills, in a new partnership with solar firm Solarcentury.

Solarcentury is the UK’s leading solar company, and it already caters to over 25,000 homeowners. With the collaboration with Ikea, however, they’re bound to cover even more of the country. The Solar Battery Storage system lets users store and save energy generated by the sun, in order to be used at a later date. Basically, it gives them a reserve they can tap into, in order to save more money later down the road.

Susannah Wood, the head of residential solar at Solarcentury, believes the partnership signifies a huge step forward for the renewable energy industry.

“The cost of solar installations has dropped considerably in recent years, and is, in fact, 100 times cheaper than it was 35 years ago,” Wood said in a statement. “We believe Ikea and Solarcentury are bringing the most competitive package to the market yet, so more people than ever before can profit financially and environmentally by producing their own energy.”

The Solar Battery Storage is available only in the UK—at least for now—and comes in two forms: You can either purchase a new solar energy system altogether, or simply tack on the battery to your existing solar energy system. The technology is designed to be adaptable, easily accessible, and most of all, efficient.

According to Ikea, installing solar panels helps save up to 50 percent on electricity bills, and this percentage only increases when you’re optimizing the use of those solar panels: Without the battery system, Ikea estimates that an average solar home only consumes around 40 percent of the electricity generated by the sun. In other words, you’ve been paying for a lot more energy than you’ve actually been receiving.

And of course, it would be remiss not to mention the overwhelming environmental benefits of clean energy. A commitment to sustainable products has always been important to Ikea, and with this latest project, the company is one step closer to its goal of producing as much renewable energy as it consumes by 2020.

“We’re always looking for ways to help customers take positive actions at home, for both the environment and their wallets,” said Hege Saebjornsen, Ikea UK and Ireland’s country sustainability manager. “With energy bills already going up 15 percent this year, there’s never been a better time for customers to take back control of their electricity bills and maximize their savings by switching to solar and solar storage.”

Following a free quotation and home survey, customers can opt to purchase the Solar Battery Storage starting from £3,000, or add the battery to their existing solar energy service from just under £5,000.

Are you UK-based and interested in saving more money on solar energy? Visit their website to find your free estimate and get started.

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