Joining the scheme enables employees to halve their bills and remove the upfront cost barrier that 80 percent of households cite as the biggest obstacle to going solar.
Demand for the scheme has tripled in the past month, driven by sustainability leaders, HR teams and employees looking for a hedge against energy price volatility.
UK households are facing their second major energy cost crisis in five years. Electricity prices have risen at an average of 6 percent a year since 2000, more than double the rate of general inflation, and with ongoing disruption to global energy markets pushing prices higher, there is little consensus on when or whether prices will stabilise.
“Energy price disruption is not short-term” said Ian Napier, Co-Founder, Heva Energy. “It is a structural shift, and most households have no mechanism to protect themselves from it. Consumer finance for solar locks you into credit checks and 12 percent interest rates, while salary sacrifice removes both barriers and offers the deepest savings for those who need them most. This is about transforming energy independence from a luxury to a workplace benefit accessible to every taxpayer. We have seen demand triple in a month. People are looking at their bills and deciding they want a way out.”
Employees access solar panels, home batteries or EV charge points through their employer with no upfront cost and no consumer credit check. Payments are deducted from gross salary before income tax and National Insurance are calculated.
A 40 percent taxpayer saves 42 percent on the cost of the scheme compared with buying the same system outright or on consumer finance at 12 percent APR.
An employee on £60,000 with a company EV and high energy usage (a full solar and 20kWh battery system) pays £123 a month net and saves £171 a month in energy costs. The scheme is cashflow positive from day one.
For an employee without a company EV, a battery-only option is available to all. The battery stores cheap off-peak electricity and releases it during expensive peak hours, effectively halving the average energy bill.
Employers incur no financial risk. They save £2,500 in National Insurance contributions per participating employee per year and reduce their Scope 3 emissions by 1.3 tonnes per employee annually. The scheme takes two months from employer onboarding to first installation.
Consumer finance for solar and battery systems typically carries 12 percent APR interest rates, requires a credit check and locks households into long repayment terms. For the 66 percent of UK households now considering solar but deterred by upfront cost, those barriers have proved decisive.
Salary sacrifice removes the financial risk. Payments pause automatically if an employee goes on parental leave or changes employer, early termination protection is built into the lease, and at the end of the term, employees can purchase the system at fair market value or continue on a nominal monthly fee.
The scheme uses Tesla Powerwall and EcoFlow hardware, selected for longevity and manufacturer warranty coverage. All installers are vetted by Heva and 21-day repair or replace SLA is included as standard.
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