Beating the heat – and energy price shocks – with renewables

As governments reduce feed-in tariffs (FiTs – a fee-per-unit paid to homeowners for selling their home-generated electricity to the grid), the value of exporting surplus solar electricity falls, and the economic case shifts towards self-consumption. This is where batteries become key, cutting homeowners’ exposure to volatile electricity prices. A 2026 study of 730 households by the Berlin University of Applied Sciences found that homes combining rooftop solar, a heat pump, an electric vehicle, and battery storage self-generated 59% of their annual energy needs – a median of 19 percentage points more than homes with solar but no battery.

The lack of FiTs or subsidies for installation makes the economics more straightforward – the cost of installation versus the cost saved in avoided grid electricity over the life of the solar installation. In a world of geopolitical volatility and energy price shocks, this balance may tip in favour of home solar. For many homeowners, however, solar panels are more than a simple economic trade-off, they are a way to build a clean, reliable energy supply that will be unaffected by any future grid instability.

Yes. Reversible heat pumps – units that can run their refrigerant cycle in either direction – provide cooling in summer and heating in winter from a single system. This makes them a direct alternative to installing separate air conditioning and pairs naturally with rooftop solar and home batteries, since peak solar generation usually takes place just a few hours before peak need.

Because of how electricity is taxed – not because of the technology. In some European countries electricity costs the consumer up to four times more than gas, largely because policy-related levies are loaded onto electricity bills. According to energy think tank Ember, this pricing gap can cancel out the efficiency advantage a heat pump holds over a gas boiler across its lifetime. In the EU, this electricity-gas imbalance may soon be addressed by the Electrification Action Plan.

The Electrification Action Plan is a European Commission initiative aimed at accelerating the shift from fossil fuels to electricity across the EU economy. A leaked draft indicates it will target the electricity-to-gas price imbalance, aim to double annual heat pump installations, and create a framework for cutting VAT on home batteries and electric vehicles.

Geopolitical shocks that impact energy flows – such as the Iran war – have a dual impact. In the immediate term, they push up the price of oil and gas – consumers feel the cost at the petrol pump and in their home energy bills. They are also a longer-term reminder of the fragility of global energy supply chains.

For governments that don’t have their own secure supply of oil and gas, renewables and electrification offer national energy security and a predictable energy cost. On a smaller scale, the calculation is similar for homeowners, for whom home electricity production, and the electrification of heating and transport, means less exposure to volatile energy prices and potentially fragile national grids. In short, anything that restricts fossil fuel energy flows is likely to accelerate the transition to renewables.