Ikea Quickly & Quietly Stops Selling UK Solar Panels After Govt Signals Subsidy Elimination
Ikea has quietly stopped selling solar panels to UK householders after the government signalled a drastic cut in solar subsidies and just two years after a media-friendly national launch. The world’s biggest furniture retailer expanded the solar offering to all its 17 UK stores in 2013-14 following a successful pilot at its Lakeside store in Essex.
The company’s UK head of sustainability said at the time: “We know that our customers want to live more sustainably and we hope working with Hanergy [Ikea’s technology partner] to make solar panels affordable and easily available helps them do just that.”
But in November last year the company decided not to renew its contract with the Hong Kong-headquartered firm, two months after the government announced a dramatic reduction in solar subsidies.
Ikea did not give a reason for the deal’s end. A spokeswoman said the chain would be selling solar panels again later this year, but the details are not yet clear and it currently no longer sells solar. Industry trade title, Solar Power Portal, has reported that other Chinese companies have expressed an interest in a tie-in with Ikea.
EDIT
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/08/ikea-quietly-stops-selling-solar-panels-to-uk-householders