Interest free loans for solar

 

The news has been released by Powys County Council which has allocated £400,000 to provide the new scheme, with the loans being paid back to the council.

It comes as a scheme providing financial assistance to private property owners so they can improve the energy efficiency of their homes is to change.

The CO2i scheme, or “cosy”, will move away from being grant-funded to an interest-free loan-based scheme. As part of the new arrangements, the council will partner with Powys-based Robert Owen Community Banking Fund and the Energy Saving Trust who will administer the loans and provide energy efficiency advice.

The interest-free loans will be available towards the cost of renewable energy measures and capital works such as solar hot water, wood fuelled boiler systems and energy efficiency measures for ‘hard to treat’ houses.

The Energy Saving Trust will deal with enquiries for insulation funding that will not be covered by the scheme, as the Trust is funded by central government.

Cllr Tony Thomas, Cabinet Member for Resources Workforce and Housing, said: “One of our strategic objectives is to reduce CO2 emissions in domestic properties.  This change will mean a more sustainable and cost-effective arrangement for the CO2i scheme and will see resources concentrated on areas of activity that will secure more energy efficiency gains.”