Millions of people living in British flats could soon tap into cheaper, cleaner electricity after E.ON UK confirmed a £4 million strategic investment in Australian cleantech scale-up Allume Energy.
The investment deal is designed to accelerate the roll-out of Allume’s SolShare platform, a patented system that fairly divides the output of a single rooftop solar array between every household in a block.
Founded in Melbourne in 2015, Allume developed SolShare to overcome the technical and ownership hurdles that have long stopped apartment residents from benefiting directly from solar power. Instead of feeding generation into the grid or limiting it to communal areas, the system assigns each flat its own ‘behind-the-meter’ allocation and delivers it precisely when occupants are using energy, slashing bills without forcing them to switch suppliers.
“Our investment in Allume is another important step towards making the transition to clean energy more inclusive,” commented Chris Norbury, CEO of E.ON UK.
“More than a fifth of British homes – five million – are low and medium-rise apartment buildings with rooftop space for solar panels, but no way of directly benefiting until now. And with about one in six people currently living in social housing we see an enormous opportunity to help people to lower their energy bills and reduce their carbon emissions, making solar more useful and affordable for the many, not the few.”
How SolShare works
SolShare’s algorithm prioritises on-site consumption, ensuring every kilowatt generated is used by residents before any surplus is exported. Because the technology operates entirely within the building, suppliers, network operators and metering arrangements remain unchanged. In practice, participating households have seen energy bill reductions of between 30% and 60%, alongside a marked cut in carbon emissions and greater control over their usage.
The model could be particularly attractive to social housing providers, who face strict efficiency targets and tight budgets. That fact means that more than half of Allume’s UK installations to date have involved social landlords retrofitting older stock.
Plans to scale across Europe
Allume has already installed SolShare on more than 6,000 homes worldwide, sharing over 14 GWh of green electricity. With E.ON’s backing, the company plans to deepen its UK presence and expand further across Europe, where apartment living is even more common.
Cameron Knox, CEO of Allume Energy, noted, “People living in flats experience the highest fuel poverty rates in the UK, yet have historically been locked out of rooftop solar due to technical and ownership considerations. SolShare enables them to access free, clean energy from the sun. Working with E.ON UK offers a transformational opportunity for Allume to scale our existing offerings and create new models across Europe, where 300 million people live in low and medium-rise apartment buildings.”
