Solar panels UK: Octopus Energy offers 'Buy Now, Pay Later' option, are they free - how much do they cost?

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The financing offer will enable more people to access the ‘cheap, clean energy source’

Octopus Energy has partnered with digital lender Zopa Bank to offer a "buy now, pay later" option for funding and installing solar panels, a new arrangement which allows households to spread the cost of installation over several years.

Octopus Energy, the UK's largest electricity supplier with nearly seven million customers, said that this financing offer will enable more people to access the benefits of this "cheap, clean energy source."

Customers can purchase and install Octopus solar panels, with the cost spread across up to 84 monthly payments over seven years.

While “buy now, pay later”, or BNPL, schemes are typically interest-free, the larger size of the loan from Octopus will see customers charged a 9.9% annual percentage rate (APR).

Octopus charges about £9,200 for installing 10 panels and a five kilowatt hour (kWh) battery. The new financing options will also be launched for people buying and installing app-controlled EV chargers, which fast-charge electric cars.

BNPL has typically been offered for customers on products like clothing, home essentials, furniture and electricals, through providers like Klarna and Clearpay.

In general, BNPL can be a way for people to spread the cost of purchases or defer payments to a later date, without incurring interest. But concerns have been raised that some people could take on too much debt, which could end up being difficult and costly to pay off.

Zopa said its new wave of BNPL products are fully regulated and involve affordability and credit card checks to limit the number of people at risk of seeing debts pile up.

Dave Farbrother, who heads up the lender’s retail finance division, said the deal will “make the switch to energy sustainability more accessible for millions of UK consumers”.

Installing solar panels can lower your energy bills in several ways, most prominently because generating your own electricity means you rely less on the grid, thereby reducing the amount of electricity you need to purchase from your utility company.

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