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Britain is breaking solar records. The country recently passed two million solar installations and during this year's heatwave, solar met nearly half of the UK's electricity demand at its peak. However, the benefits of that renewable energy generation have remained out of reach for millions of homes.
Just 3% of UK flats have solar panels, against 7% of houses and bungalows, and in dense urban areas the figure falls below 1%.
The people who miss out are often the households most exposed to high energy bills and at greatest risk of fuel poverty.
Sharing a single rooftop array across a block of flats once required separate cabling and infrastructure for every home, which made solar on apartments unviable. This challenge is the root cause behind the emerging “solar disparity” between houses and flats.
SolShare was developed to tackle the issue. It's the world's only technology that takes power from a single rooftop array and shares it fairly across multiple flats, each connected to their own meter. Since launching in the UK, it has helped developers and social housing landlords to cut residents’ electricity bills by up to 40%, with more than 10,000 homes worldwide now benefiting from the technology.
What's new in SolShare 2
Building on that impact, we're excited to launch SolShare 2 as the next generation of the technology, with some key advanced features which will benefit residents, landlords and installers alike:
- More capacity: SolShare 2 increases energy-sharing capacity by 50%, rising from 20kW to 30kW while still serving up to 15 connections. That means more headroom per system and more SAP and EPC credits for each flat.
- Battery storage, built for flats: Blocks can pair shared solar with a battery, storing cheap, clean daytime power for use after dark.
- Faster, simpler installs: Redesigned hardware and software which speeds up installation and commissioning times, helping the technology to scale and meet demand.
Commenting on the launch of SolShare 2, Cameron Knox, CEO and Co-Founder, Allume Energy, said: "The renewable milestones the UK has set this year show solar's potential, but they will ring hollow if the poorest in society see little of the benefit. Right now, a family in a social housing flat watches the same sun fall on their neighbour's house, yet only one of them sees a reduction in bills. That can't be fair. SolShare 2 closes that gap, and now, coupled with battery integration, lets those living in flats share in the benefits of cleaner, cheaper energy."
The news of the SolShare 2 launch follows a recent £4m investment from E.ON UK
Commenting on the launch, Chris Norbury, CEO of E.ON UK, said: “Making new energy work for everyone means building the system around people and communities. That has to include people living in flats, who have largely been unable to access clean, affordable energy until now.
“Thanks to Allume’s SolShare 2 technology, millions more people across the UK will now be able to benefit from shared solar power and battery storage. That means better homes for the way we live today, giving people more control over how they use energy and putting money back into their pockets.”
Proven impact
SolShare is already delivering results across both retrofit and new-build schemes for thousands of homes across the UK.
Working with Wales & West Housing at Odet Court, Cardiff, Allume connected 24 flats to a single rooftop system, lifting the building's SAP score by 15 points and saving residents up to £690 a year. The integrated solar and battery storage system is delivering a 70% reduction in the energy residents draw from the grid, with the project featured in Great British Energy's Local Power Plan.
Joanna Davoile, Executive Director (Assets), Wales & West Housing, said: "The SolShare system seems to be a much fairer solution, as the energy generated by the building can be shared equally to help our residents keep their electricity costs down rather than going back to the grid."
In Dundee, working with housing association Hillcrest, and using ECO4 funding, SolShare brought solar to a historic listed building without disrupting residents or costing the association, cutting tenant bills and lifting EPC ratings in the process.
David Conway, Head of Asset Management, Hillcrest said: "Many of our tenants at Scott Court have already reported noticeable savings on their energy costs, with some saying they're topping up their pre-payment meters far less frequently. This is a real and tangible step forward in our mission to tackle fuel poverty."
The timing matters
The launch of SolShare 2 comes as the focus on regulations and funding moves towards the importance of solar on flats. The Future Homes Standard will require solar PV on the vast majority of new-build homes and the move from SAP to the new Home Energy Model means a flat only earns an EPC uplift if solar is connected directly to its own meter, exactly how SolShare works.
At the same time, the government's £15 billion Warm Homes Plan, the largest home-upgrade programme in British history, puts rooftop solar and batteries at the heart of upgrading five million homes by 2030, with funding that can in some cases cover the full cost of an install.
SolShare 2's UK rollout follows a £4 million strategic investment from E.ON UK, accelerating Allume's expansion across the country.
Find out more
SolShare 2 will be available in the UK from August 2026. In the meantime, Allume is hosting a webinar alongside Midsummer Energy on 2 July, introducing installers to SolShare 2 and giving guidance on becoming certified. Click here register, or to find out more, email uk.support@allumeenergy.com