The National Federation of Builders has released a statement calling on the energy sector to fund grid connections in new builds
New home grid connections being funded by the energy sector would allow for easier and cheaper installation of solar panels.
This would benefit the government’s stance of mandating solar panels on all new builds by 2027.
The NFB and HBA has been working with the government on the issue
The Home Builders Association, the housing division of the NFB, has been working with the government to ensure the challenge is tackled properly.
However, the National Federation of Builders are saying that more is needed in order to make mandated solar panels affordable, and therefore more achievable.
They highlight that there are potential issues with temporary grid connections, unaffordable grid connections, and delays to proper implementation of connections.
This could be avoided through the grid paying for off-site connections, reinforcements works, and infrastructure, say the NFB. This would allow the housebuilders themselves to pay for solar panels required on new builds, which will be all electric.
They claim that this solution will allows the rise in new customers to cause the profits to rise and exceed the cost of grid connections and infrastructure works. This would allow mandated solar panels to become a reality far more easily.
Grid-funded new home grid connections would solve several issues, say NFB
The statement continues, stating that SME builders are in danger of impact from delays to renewable connections. Delays are reaching eleven years, and global demand for electrical infrastructure is rising component prices. Transformer prices have risen 60-80%. If things continue, SME builders will be hard pressed to mandate solar panel installation in new builds.
This will only increase delays further, and run the risk of debt-servicing erasing profits.
The NFB statement provides an example: “One HBA member has a site of under 70 homes and in 2019 was told a substation was required to support their electrified homes. In 2023, they were told that they could make no connections until upgrade works not associated with the site were completed in 2025. A temporary connection was organised, not by the Distribution Network Operator (DNO), for a third of the properties but at a considerable cost.
“The upgrade works still haven’t taken place without any indication of that timeframe, but the project should have commenced by now. If it does not commence – to only build a third of the homes – planning may need to be resubmitted if upgrades take too long. If the development commences on a third of the homes, the connection is still temporary and they will face charges and costs for not building the entire site, such as affordable housing delays and council tax charged on unbuilt properties.
“They will also service their debt for far longer because selling just a third of the houses will not repay the loans to fund the project.
“And this is a project with electrified heating but no solar panels. Mandating PV without understanding the grid costs and challenges will be another nail in the coffin for small and medium sized builders.”
The statement concludes: “Electrification is happening but if it happens on the backs of developers, we will see more SMEs leave the industry and growth stunted because political expedience was put above strategy. The only fair approach is for the energy sector to pay for connections and infrastructure and the developers to pay for panels. Do that, and every new build roof could be one giant solar panel!”
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