It is our national duty to install rooftop solar panels at home

Most homes could save up to £600 a year just from solar panels, writes Donnachadh McCarthy

Solar panels can also help reduce energy costs for those who can’t install them (Reuters)

In the middle of the devastating news from Antarctica, where temperature records hit a new high, a bit of good news has come in: the UK is experiencing a little solar installation boom.

“I have seen nothing like it. We have taken a year’s bookings since Christmas”, Kevin Holland, director of the Solar Shed and a renewables consultant, told me.

While he welcomed the chancellor’s cut on VAT on solar and energy saving materials (which reduces a £4,000 solar system by about £200), Holland said that the real blockage in the industry is the lack of trained installers. Many electricians and roofers left the UK after Brexit, he laments.