Looks like it won’t just be David Cameron’s Notting Hillbillies smugging off their rooftop turbines as renewable power is now being made available to the proletariat.
B&Q have announced they are to roll out a range of affordable domestic wind turbines and solar panels in a bid to make renewables a must-have, mass-market product.
Britain’s biggest DIY chain claim that their two metre tall wind turbines will be capable of generating between 1,000 and 2,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year.
The turbines, priced at £1,498, will come complete with a home survey covering structural suitability and a study of wind capacity in the buyer’s area.
Advice will also be given on how to apply for planning permission, although Planning Minister Yvette Cooper was recently reported as making moves to scrap the requirement of approved permission.
In addition, a spokesperson for the store said its staff would help customers apply for grants from the Energy Saving Trust, which could cover 30 percent of the cost of the turbine.
B&Q will also be following high street electrical retailer into the home solar power market, by introducing a range of roof-mounted solar panels, which will produce hot water.
B&Q Chief Executive Ian Cheshire told The Sun today (29th September): “We are responding to a genuine consumer interest in environmental issues… We predict consumers will increasingly look to energy efficiency for cost reductions.”
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