Website www.homesun.com Founded 2009 | Headquarters London Type of business Privately owned | |
Industry Energy-saving, Cavity Wall Insulation, Renewables Key people Daniel Green, CEO and founding partner
Bill Sneyd, founding partner and strategy director
Sue Welland, founding partner and marketing director
Mark Woodal, non executive director
Josh Wine COO | ||
HomeSun led the transformation in the UK of solar for homes with the launch of Free Solar in 2010 using the Feed-in Tariff (FITs) subsidy. Working with government-led subsidies, HomeSun now offers free cavity wall insulation. The company's particular focus within the category is residential blocks of flats of three storeys and above.
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The Business Model
In 2010, HomeSun brought Free Solar PV to the UK, took 350,000 applications. To enable Free Solar, HomeSun used the Government-led ‘Feed-in Tariffs’ and inverted the traditional business model. Instead of homeowners having to find the money to buy solar panels, HomeSun paid for the panels as well as 25 years of maintenance. In return, HomeSun received the Feed-In Tariff and the homeowner received free electricity. The company delivers the free proposition with boilers and now, Cavity Wall Insulation for blocks of 3 storeys and over.
Background
After the introduction of FIT scheme passed through parliament by the Labour government on 1 April 2010, HomeSun planned to install 100,000 panels worth £1 billion over three years as part of their ‘free solar’ scheme. The new Conservative government’s introduction of financial caps on this scheme led to fears that the solar industry would suffer, however Daniel Green, CEO of HomeSun, maintained that the benefits of solar energy would still be felt by ordinary households. The HomeSun free solar panel installation scheme was highly commended by the Microgeneration UK Awards in 2011, (while the company’s partner Carillion Energy Services won the Commercial Innovation award for Project Bright, a privately financed end-to-end delivery model for installing solar PV). Now, HomeSun have received funding for free cavity insulation which comes from the utilities as part of their government-led ECO programme. HomeSun has been selected to install ECO measures and the funding they receive covers everything from surveys, access equipment, market-leading insulation products, and the guarantee. However, just like the solar subsidies, this government-led funding is due to be cut March 2014.
The Company
HomeSun is based in New Oxford Street, London. The company was founded upon ‘green principles’ to take action against climate change. The company was co-founded by Daniel Green and Bill Sneyd. Sue Welland (a founding partner of HomeSun) was founder of The CarbonNeutral Company. The company is accredited to renewable energy trade bodies including Act On CO2, The Energy Saving Trust, Renewable Energy Association, Solar Trade Association and the Micropower Council.
Media
HomeSun has featured on BBC TV and many UK news and media outlets. In 2010, BBC Breakfast featured an investigation into how HomeSun could help UK consumers save money on their electricity bills. The company has also featured in articles on home solar energy by the Financial Times, The Sunday Times, and The Guardian. More recently, HomeSun has featured in The Guardian as a solution to cheap ways of improving wall insulations.
Selling your home
HomeSun leases comply to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) guidelines, and they offer Deeds of Variation to keep up with the latest amendments. However, in reality most lenders in the UK have additional requirements over and above the CML guidelines. HomeSun have a policy of refusing to consider further changes to the lease agreement, drastically reducing the number of lenders that potential buyers can use. This goes against their sales patter which claims that "Over 7,000 free installations have been completed by HomeSun and in each case, lenders accepted the HomeSun lease."
HomeSun do not provide a way of terminating the lease during its term, other than by paying the "buy-out" charge. This charge is (anecdotally) high compared to other providers.