Homeowners turn to solar panels as oil prices rise

Homeowners turn to solar panels as oil prices rise7 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleCathy KillickandChloe Aslett,YorkshireBBCSolar panels can give householders a feeling of "control" over their energy, Mark Houldsworth saidRenewable energy firms in Yorkshire have reported a spike of interest in solar panels prompted by the US-Israel war with Iran.As fuel prices have risen, households have been turning away from oil and gas, with energy supplier Octopus seeing a 50% rise in solar panel sales - a picture replicated in local companies.Mark Houldsworth, managing director of Boroughbridge-based Solar Plus Yorkshire Ltd, said: "We normally get 15 inquiries a month, but we've had around 150 so far in April."He said customers told him they were pleased to be going green, but saving money and wanting a feeling of "control" is what spurred on the change.The price of crude oil, which is used to produce diesel and petrol, has risen as the key Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed.About 20% of the global supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas usually passes through the route.Houldsworth said his solar panel business had been busy since the Ukraine war beganHouldsworth said the company, which has been installing solar panels for 16 years, had seen similar surges in interest in the past."We have been busy since the Ukraine war," he said."That had a big impact similar to this, and also Covid when energy bills shot up - that had a fairly dramatic effect, but this is on another level now."Gavin Andrews of Leeds Solar reported a similar rise in interest, with a 50% increase in inquiries since the start of the Iran war.He said this was "double the number of inquiries for the same period last year".Chris Simpson is one of the homeowners who has been spurred on to install solar panels."All of these geopolitical events are well outside of what I can control," he said."But I can control...