Climate-KIC: Start-up revolutionises solar market by eliminating cost, risk and hassle

Want to bring down your monthly energy bills with immediate effect, decrease your carbon footprint and become less dependent on energy suppliers? Solease helps you lease the solar system to power your home.

Image

Most solar panel dealers promise that the installation will pay itself back in under a decade. Many consumers, however, “worry they could have moved house, or might even be dead” before they would have been able to get their return on investment, says Pierre Vermeulen, CEO and founder of Climate-KIC supported start-up Solease, which promises to get rid of installation and maintenance costs once and for all, “People decide against solar because of the cost, hassle and risk,” he said.

Today, the cost of buying and installing a solar panel installation can be close to ten thousand Euros for a single house. A steep investment, particularly for consumers who are often completely in the dark about the solar market. “If you would ask someone to name ten automobile brands, it’s usually not a problem, but nobody could give you a list of solar panel brands,” Vermeulen pointed out.

Solease only uses high-grade, black solar panels

“We solve this problem with our rental model,” said Vermeulen, a 10-year veteran of the car lease industry, “You don’t have to invest, and if you don’t like it: you just return it.” In Vermeulen’s vision, solar power will be affordable for everyone, “Just like everyone has a mobile phone, or a microwave,” he says.

From company car, to company solar

“A car loses about twenty per cent of its value as soon as it’s driven out of the dealership,” Vermeulen said, drawing on his experience in car leasing. Solar panels, on the reverse, are assets that don’t become worthless in a mere ten years, Vermeulen points out. Current solar technology typically provides a return on investment in a decade, and can subsequently generate a neat monthly profit for an additional twenty years.

Vermeulen foresees an opportunity for employers to offer company solar in addition to benefits such as company cars. “If those cars would be electrical or plug-in hybrids, we would be going full circle from a sustainability perspective,” Vermeulen said. In his vision, company solar wouldn’t cost the company anything, with the employee paying directly to Solease. The employer would provide economies of scale, driving down costs for employees.

“We are actively talking to twenty five employers who represent almost 70.000 employees,” Vermeulen said, saying it should be interesting to see “who will get the PR scoop of cutting carbon output without any costs for the company.”

Depending on the number of employees, a solar panel scheme is “a far more lucrative way for companies to offset their carbon footprint than other costly schemes, or solar panels on top of the office building”, Vermeulen explained.

The full story can be read on the Climate-KIC blog.