Ed Miliband's genius answer to the Iran energy crisis: £400 plug-in solar panels from the 'Middle of Lidl' and forcing newly built homes to install heat pumps
Ed Miliband wants Brits to be able to buy plug-in solar panels from retailers such as Lidl and Amazon 'within months' as the Iran war threatens a spike in energy bills.
The Energy Secretary is today unveiling a series of measures amid the Middle East crisis, as he doubles down on his push for the UK to move away from fossil fuels.
Iran has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz - a key shipping route for oil and gas - as part of its retaliatory action against US and Israeli strikes.
The ongoing blockade has caused a huge rise in global energy prices and plunged financial markets into turmoil.
Mr Miliband said the economic effects of the conflict showed his Net Zero drive is 'essential', adding he is 'determined to fight people's corner in this crisis'.
In the 'clean power' plans announced on Tuesday, the Labour Cabinet minister set out how is he pushing ahead with the rollout of plug-in solar panels, which cost around £400.
The Government said the panels, which can be put on balconies or on patios, will be available in shops 'within months' and will 'save people money on their bills'.
Meanwhile, under new rules, newly built homes will have to have heat pumps installed or be linked to heating networks, rather than gas boilers.
Ed Miliband wants Brits to be able to buy plug-in solar panels from retailers such as Lidl and Amazon 'within months' as the Iran war threatens a spike in energy bills
Plug-in solar panels, which cost around £400, can be put on balconies or on patios. The Government said they will 'save people money on their bills'
The majority of homes – with some exceptions – will also have to be built with onsite renewable electricity generation, which is likely to be mostly solar.
Mr Miliband said: 'The Iran war has once again shown our drive for clean power is essential for our energy security so we can escape the grip of fossil fuel markets we don't control.
'Whether through solar panels fitted as standard on new homes or making it possible for people to purchase plug-in solar in shops, we are determined to roll out clean power so we can give our country energy sovereignty.'
The Government said it is working with retailers like Lidl and Amazon, as well as manufacturers such as EcoFlow, to bring plug-in solar panels to the UK market.
These panels, which might soon be available in the middle aisle of Lidl, are already widely used by households across Europe, with half a million new devices plugged in per year in Germany.
The free solar power generated by the panels can be used directly through a mains socket like any other device, without an installation cost.
The panels cut the amount of electricity being drawn from the grid, lowering household bills and helping reduce the UK's dependence on fossil fuels, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said.
The move to speed up the delivery of plug-in solar is happening as new rules come into force to implement the 'future homes standard', building regulations that will make solar panels and 'clean heating' standard in new homes.
The long-awaited implementation of the future homes standard comes a decade after measures to ensure homes were built to Net Zero carbon standards were scrapped.
Officials said the measures on new homes could save up to £830 a year on each property's energy bills, compared to a standard home with an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of C, and create at least 75 per cent less carbon emissions than those built to the 2013 standards.
The Government also announced plans to enable energy companies to offer discounted energy bills to customers on windy days.
Officials said historic underinvestment in the grid means that wind farms currently have to be paid to switch off on windy days when the network cannot take all of the power they generate.
Ministers are looking to bring forward new legislation that would allow energy companies to offer discounted bills to customers on windy days to use power when it is cheap rather than switching off their wind turbines.
The plans are expected to mostly benefit those in Scotland and the East of England.
Responding to the future homes standard, senior Tory MP Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, said: 'Labour's answer to the cost of living is to make electricity unbearably expensive, then force all new homes to be built with electric heating – locking families who have no choice into sky-high energy bills for decades.
'Their approach is completely back to front. Rather than banning and forcing people to use certain technologies, we should just make electricity cheap and let people choose what works for them and their families.'
