IKEA to sell solar panels in UK stores

IKEA, the Swedish retail giant, will start selling solar panels in the UK and the firm is planning to introduce them to all UK stores by September.

The solar panels will initially be available to buy online and at stores in Glasgow, Birmingham and Lakeside, before Solar Shops appear in all the company’s UK outlets.

The move is part of a collaboration with energy company SolarCentury and is IKEA’s second attempt to break into the solar panels market, after a two-year pilot project with Chinese company Hanergy ended in 2015.

The UK has seen low wholesale electricity prices in recent months and solar incentives were also cut by 65 per cent..

Joanna Yarrow, head of sustainability at Ikea UK and Ireland, said: “Obviously the climate has been changing in the past year in the UK but, nonetheless, our research showed a third of homeowners would really like to invest in solar, and the majority of those are driven by the opportunity to save money.”