Allume joins forces with E.ON Next to cut social housing energy bills by up to 60% and pay residents for stored power

Allume Energy and E.ON Next have launched a UK-first solution to unlock solar, battery and grid flexibility savings for potentially millions of people living in social housing flats.

Our shared solar and battery technology, SolShare, is already reducing tenant bills by up to 60% for thousands of people across the country.

E.ON Next has now launched its FlatSave system, which brings added grid flexibility benefits to our SolShare technology. The system can charge batteries from the grid when electricity is cheaper, then use that stored power in flats when demand and prices rise. It can send power back to the grid at busy times, helping to support the network and even generate extra income.

By turning communal batteries into a shared asset, FlatSave allows residents to play a part in supporting the grid while receiving a financial benefit from the energy their building generates and stores.

E.ON Next customers adopting FlatSave could receive up to £160 a year as an additional cash payment for providing this flexibility, customers with other energy suppliers could still benefit, with payments of up to £80 a year without the need to switch supplier.

Peabody residents in UK first adoption of FlatSave

The UK’s first use of the FlatSave solar+battery+flexibility technology has been installed on six flats at Harper Court in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, alongside Peabody Housing.

The 15kW solar and 18kWh battery will generate and store electricity that can be shared across the six homes and into the local energy grid when needed. Residents receive the free electricity from the solar generation on their roof while also being rewarded for supporting the grid at peak times.

All six residents receive the free electricity from the solar generation on their roof. Residents can also sign up for the battery flexibility programme. Participating E.ON Next customers will receive up to £160 in cash payments from the battery and participating residents with other energy suppliers can receive up to £80 in payments from the battery.

Future installs are already planned for later this year at housing association properties around the country.

Lorraine, a Peabody resident at Harper Court in Stevenage, said: "Before having the solar panels installed, rising energy costs meant making constant trade-offs. I was having to choose between putting the heating on versus using the oven. When I was cooking, I’d turn the heating off and then turn it back on once I’d finished. The solar and battery system means I don't have to choose between cooking and staying warm.

"The installation process was really straightforward and non-disruptive. The team kept us fully updated of what they were doing the whole time. Everything that is going on with the cost of living makes savings like this huge, and since the solar panels went up, I've been really happy.

"My energy bill has dropped down significantly, which has allowed me to build up a really good credit buffer for the winter months, something I never had before when I was paying monthly. On top of those savings, getting the £160 cash payment from the battery will really help my day-to-day spending. Shopping is getting more expensive and I have a few car expenses coming up, so those payments will really help as we head into winter. As people say: every little helps!”

 More than 5 million households in England and Wales, including nearly half of all social housing tenants, live in flats. Despite a pressing need for lower energy bills, just 3% of flats have been able to access solar power, as traditional rooftop systems have historically been unable to practically or affordably distribute electricity fairly between homes.

FlatSave could deliver widespread benefit for the UK’s social housing landlords and councils, who oversee an estimated 2.3 million social housing flats.

Ramona Vlasiu, Chief Operating Officer at E.ON Next, said: “FlatSave is a clear example of making new energy work for everyone. By combining shared solar, communal batteries and flexibility we can help people in flats and social housing access cheaper, cleaner power, take more control of their energy use and benefit financially from the energy their building generates and stores.

“Through our strategic partnership with Allume, we’re helping to remove the barriers that have left too many households locked out of the energy transition. This is about turning energy from a cost into an asset for more people, while supporting a smarter, more flexible and more resilient energy system.”

Cameron Knox, Chief Executive of Allume Energy, said: “For housing associations and social landlords, flats are often seen as the most difficult homes to decarbonise because conventional rooftop solar systems have not been designed to share power fairly across multiple meters. 

“We have been tackling that assumption at scale through SolShare, with over half of our UK installations delivered for social landlords. The approach is being used on more than 10,000 homes globally and has produced 25 gigawatt-hours of green electricity thus far. 

“The collaboration with E.ON Next takes that one step further, allowing residents to not only save significantly on their bills, but also receive a payment for being able to share that energy back to the grid, too.”

New E.ON Next polling shows more than 80% of people want solar panels and batteries, but a fifth (22%) believe the technology is not suitable for their type of home. At the same time, 70% say it is unfair that some households can cut bills by generating and storing their own power while others cannot.

FlatSave is aligned to Allume’s SolShare solution which is already installed on more than 5,000 homes in the UK, through projects with dozens of housing associations. When paired with a communal battery, the system is a proven approach to lowering bills and emissions whilst boosting EPC ratings for blocks of flats ahead of the 2030 mandate.

Find out more about Allume’s SolShare solution.

E.ON Next and Allume Energy will be holding a showcase event for social landlords and housing associations in London on 13th October. For more information on the event and to learn more about FlatSave, please contact: flatsave@eonenergy.com

Notes to editors

The benefits of FlatSave:

Standard solar and battery offerings have historically been designed exclusively for standalone homes, often locking residents into specific retail contracts. Allume and E.ON Next are changing that.

Combining SolShare technology with E.ON Next’s flexibility approach is a major UK first: a communal battery that tracks energy prices in real-time, enabling connected flats to offset their electricity usage and be paid for wholesale optimisation.

• Advanced battery control: By intelligently charging from the grid when electricity is cheapest, it unlocks an additional layer of savings that traditional solar simply cannot touch.
• Supplier-agnostic & free for residents: Crucially, the system works 'behind the meter'. Tenants can choose any energy supplier they want, stay on their existing tariff, and still benefit. They do not have to switch to E.ON Next.
• Direct financial returns: On top of standard solar and battery savings, each flat can receive annual cash payments thanks to the battery’s smart grid flexibility.
• Essential grid support: FlatSave actively feeds power back into the local grid when demand spikes, reducing pressure on the network at peak times.

SolShare’s proven track record has already secured high-profile government and industry backing, further mitigating risk for social landlords. SolShare is prominently featured as a case study in Great British Energy’s Local Power Plan and detailed as a Type 1 (shared behind-the-meter) solution in the DESNZ Community Batteries Call for Evidence. Furthermore, Allume’s work has been highlighted in a small-scale solar report by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) and featured as a RISE ‘Retrofit Success Story’, with Allume actively leading RISE Masterclasses on solar PV for flats.

About Allume Energy

Allume Energy is the developer of SolShare, the world’s first behind-the-meter technology for sharing a single rooftop solar array across multiple flats in the same building. Unlike conventional systems limited to communal areas, SolShare delivers solar directly to individual meters and is provider agnostic, so residents keep the full benefit regardless of who supplies their energy.

About E.ON Next

We are one of the UK’s largest and most trusted energy suppliers serving 5.6 million households and 370,000 businesses with affordable, flexible tariffs and low-carbon solutions, and a leading provider of infrastructure solutions that deliver clean energy to UK cities and communities.

Across E.ON UK and our brands – E.ON Next, E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions, and npower Business Solutions – are 8,000+ employees and apprentices. They are the people proudly leading the transition to new energy, so it doesn’t just offer a greener future, but one that empowers customers, cuts bills, supports local jobs and helps communities to thrive.

Media contact

• Jake Setterfield, Fieldcraft Communications: 07584 319 396, jakesetterfield@fieldcraft-comms.com
• Allume Energy UK press office: uk.press@allumeenergy.com
• E.ON UK press office: media@eon-uk.com