Flatpack furniture giant Ikea has launched a solar battery storage system and panel package aimed at helping UK households save hundreds of pounds per year.
"Supersized batteries" mounted on the wall will store energy generated by solar panels, says the Daily Telegraph, potentially saving homeowners "up to £560 a year" on their energy bills.
The cost of installing solar panels has fallen significantly in recent years, adds the paper.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
However, The Independent warns of a "big up-front cost of £6,925" for the system, although Ikea "estimates that customers will make their money back over 12 years".
Householders who already have solar panels installed can buy the battery packs by themselves, which TrustedReviews says will cost around £3,000.
According to Ikea, solar panels without the battery pack "typically consume around 40% of all the solar electricity generated". The rest is channeled back to the National Grid, "at a loss compared to its value."
Ikea is not the first company to offer such a system in the UK. Electric carmaker Tesla has been selling its Powerwall storage system since 2015.
While a single 14kWh Powerwall battery system costs £5,400, there are several additional charges for "supporting hardware", such as device installation and any "electrical upgrades" necessary to make the system work, Alphr says. Solar panels also come at an additional cost, making Ikea's solution around £2,400 cheaper.
Orders are already open on Ikea's website, where you can also find out how much money you should expect to save.
-
Why Bezos' new pickup could be a 'wrecking ball' in EV industryToday's Big Question Slate Auto's no-frills approach is a 'potential Tesla killer'
-
Judge rejects Elon Musk's $56B pay package againSpeed Read Judge Kathaleen McCormick upheld her rejection of the Tesla CEO's unprecedented compensation deal
-
Is the world ready for Tesla's new domestic robots?Talking Points The debut of Elon Musk's long-promised "Optimus" at a Tesla event last week has renewed debate over the role — and feasibility — of commercial automatons
-
Wall Street tumbles on poor tech resultsSpeed Read US markets had their worst day since 2022 as Tesla and AI stocks dropped
-
A running list of Elon Musk's biggest controversiesIn Depth The business mogul has a long history in the hot seat
-
Why 2023 is a make or break year for electric vehiclesfeature As Tesla shares fall, a growing roster of new rivals is revving on the sidelines
-
Has the tide turned for Elon Musk?Talking Point Tesla’s investors are ‘starting to wonder’ if Musk is still ‘the right man to lead the company’
-
Are self-driving cars still an impossible dream?Talking Point State-of-the-art robot cars still ’struggle’ with construction sites, animals, traffic cones and pedestrian crossings
