Heva Energy launches UK-first salary sacrifice scheme for solar and batteries, cutting household energy bills by up to 50%
Posted by: electime 12th May 2026
UK households are facing their second major energy cost crisis in five years. Electricity prices have risen at an average of 6% a year since 2000, more than double the rate of general inflation, and with ongoing disruption to global energy markets pushing prices higher, there is little consensus on when or whether prices will stabilise.
Heva Energy, a technology platform founded by entrepreneurs Ian Napier and Thomas Newby, is launching the UK’s first salary sacrifice scheme for residential solar, battery storage and EV charge points. The scheme allows employees to fund clean energy systems through pre-tax salary reductions – the same mechanism that drove the UK’s electric vehicle boom – halving their bills and removing the upfront cost barrier that 80% of households cite as the biggest obstacle to going solar.
Demand for the scheme has tripled in the past month, driven by sustainability leaders, HR teams and employees looking for a hedge against energy price volatility.
Ian Napier, Co-Founder, Heva Energy: “Energy price disruption is not short-term. It is a structural shift, and most households have no mechanism to protect themselves from it. Consumer finance for solar locks you into credit checks and 12% interest rates, while salary sacrifice removes both barriers and offers the deepest savings for those who need them most. This is about transforming energy independence from a luxury to a workplace benefit accessible to every taxpayer. We have seen demand triple in a month. People are looking at their bills and deciding they want a way out.”
How it works
Employees access solar panels, home batteries or EV charge points through their employer with no upfront cost and no consumer credit check. Payments are deducted from gross salary before income tax and National Insurance are calculated.
Example scenarios:
- A 40% taxpayer saves 42% on the cost of the scheme compared with buying the same system outright or on consumer finance at 12% APR.
- An employee on £60,000 with a company EV and high energy usage (a full solar and 20kWh battery system) pays £123 a month net and saves £171 a month in energy costs. The scheme is cashflow positive from day one.
For an employee without a company EV, a battery-only option is available to all. The battery stores cheap off-peak electricity and releases it during expensive peak hours, effectively halving the average energy bill.
Example scenarios:
- An employee on £45,000 without solar suitability takes a 15kWh battery that stores cheap off-peak electricity and releases it during expensive peak hours at £75 a month net and saves £68 a month.
- A basic rate taxpayer on £35,000 in rented accommodation accesses a 10kWh battery at £75 a month net and saves £56 a month.
Employers incur no financial risk. They save £2,500 in National Insurance contributions per participating employee per year and reduce their Scope 3 emissions by 1.3 tonnes per employee annually. The scheme takes two months from employer onboarding to first installation.
The problem it solves
Consumer finance for solar and battery systems typically carries 12% APR interest rates, requires a credit check and locks households into long repayment terms. For the 66% of UK households now considering solar but deterred by upfront cost, those barriers have proved decisive.
Salary sacrifice removes the financial risk. Payments pause automatically if an employee goes on parental leave or changes employer, early termination protection is built into the lease, and at the end of the term, employees can purchase the system at fair market value or continue on a nominal monthly fee.
The scheme uses Tesla Powerwall and EcoFlow hardware, selected for longevity and manufacturer warranty coverage. All installers are vetted by Heva and 21-day repair or replace SLA is included as standard.
Employer and partner testimonials
Darren Riley, MD of D-Hive Ltd, a WOS of Derby and Burton NHS FT:
“Healthcare workers were hit as hard as anyone by the last energy crisis, and many see buying solar outright as simply not an option. What attracted us to Heva was the seamless and uncomplicated proposition capable of delivering meaningful savings for large proportions of the staff base and not just those on the highest salaries.”
Zobair Mehmood, The National Lottery Community Fund:
“We’ve seen energy prices rise 79% since 2019, and our employees are dealing with the same volatility at home. We already use salary sacrifice for electric vehicles; extending that mechanism to solar and batteries was the most direct way to protect our people from rising bills while making real progress on our net zero commitments. The fact that there’s a battery-only option for employees who can’t participate in salary sacrifice matters to us because we really wanted a benefit our whole workforce could use.”
