THR SURGE in gas and electricity prices has led to a Coventry lighting specialist reporting a wave of orders for solar energy systems.
Voltacon, on the Burnsall Road Industrial Estate, Canley, has previously found its main solar market to be supplying off-grid solar products to farmers and static caravan owners in the UK.
Now, the record price of gas and electricity in the UK and the invasion of Ukraine leading to a reduction in energy supply from Russia has led to consumers seeking alternative ways of heating and lighting their homes, which has led to a surge of enquires to Voltacon’s website.
Stefanos Kandilidis, managing director of Voltacon which covers residential, commercial and industrial sectors, said this was the busiest period for the demand for solar products from the consumer market in its 11-year history.
“These are unprecedented times as the price volatility for gas and electricity shows no sign of becoming stable,” he added.
“The rise in the consumer market was a surprise to us because, until recently, very few people had forecast that there would be a rapid need to look for clean, dependable alternatives to electricity and gas.
“As energy prices are continuing to rise for households, people are looking at alternative sources of heating and lighting for their homes.
“There has been a very sudden wave of enquiries to our website – three or four times higher than usual – and we are able to cope with these orders because we have the know-how and equipment to supply to customers since this is a sector which is well-known to us.”
Stefanos said Voltacon previously exported 70 per cent of their products and sold 30 per cent around the UK but those figures had been turned on their heads in the last few months.
He said: “Brexit has also had a role to play because it is not always as easy to take goods abroad because of the customs clearance paperwork.
“We created a purpose-built building next door to our current premises just before Covid-19 because we were running out of space and we have now had to rent another small warehouse from an adjacent business to have enough room to cope with demand.
“It is great that more and more people are willing to install solar products to their properties for their self-consumption. The main challenge now is to keep up with demand.”
Visit www.voltaconsolar.com for more information.
