- Great British Energy is investing £7.5 million in renewable heat company Naked Energy alongside existing shareholder Barclays Climate Ventures.
- The £8.875 million funding round will support a UK manufacturing facility expected to create up to 40 direct and 100 indirect jobs.
- Solar thermal could reduce gas consumption in heat-intensive buildings without adding to peak electricity demand, but the factory location and commercial order pipeline remain undecided.
Great British Energy has made its first major investment in solar thermal technology, committing £7.5 million to help Naked Energy establish a manufacturing facility in the UK.
Barclays Climate Ventures, an existing shareholder, is participating in the £8.875 million funding round. The money will support production of Naked Energy’s Virtu solar technology, with the proposed facility expected to create up to 40 direct skilled jobs and around 100 indirect roles.
A location has not yet been selected. Great British Energy said domestic manufacturing should lower production costs and allow the Crawley-headquartered company to expand in Britain and export markets.
Naked Energy develops rooftop collectors that generate renewable heat directly, as well as photovoltaic thermal units that produce heat and electricity from the same installation. Existing customers include the British Library and the All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon.
Founder and chief executive Christophe Williams said heat was “too often overlooked in the energy debate” despite its large contribution to fossil fuel consumption. The investment would help the company expand into hospitals, hotels, public buildings and industrial sites, he added.
The technology is aimed principally at buildings with consistent demand for hot water, heating or cooling. Potential users include leisure centres, care homes, hotels, hospitals and manufacturers, where solar heat can displace gas consumption during daylight hours.
Its main system-level advantage is that it produces heat without first converting solar energy into electricity. That can reduce pressure on power networks as heating becomes progressively electrified, particularly where heat pumps or direct electric systems would otherwise increase demand during busy periods.
Naked Energy also claims its low-profile collectors can use around 85% of available roof space, compared with approximately 50% for conventionally tilted solar panels requiring gaps to avoid shading. That comparison will vary between buildings and installation designs, but a compact profile may be valuable at urban sites where usable roof area is scarce.
Energy Engineered in the UK
The investment addresses a substantial but comparatively neglected part of UK decarbonisation. Government statistics show that natural gas remains central to energy use in homes and service sector buildings. Domestic gas consumption reached 21.8 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2024, while gas was also the largest contributor to increased energy use in the services sector.
Policy has concentrated more heavily on renewable electricity and domestic heat pumps than commercial renewable heat. The Climate Change Committee warned in its 2026 progress report that there was no longer dedicated funding for decarbonising the public estate and no clear policy to incentivise low-carbon heating in commercial buildings.
Solar thermal will not replace heat pumps, heat networks or industrial electrification across the economy. Output varies with sunlight and many users will still require storage or backup heat, while project economics depend on roof suitability, installation costs and the customer’s pattern of demand.
Its strongest role is likely to be at sites with predictable daytime or year-round heat loads, where direct renewable heat can reduce fuel use without requiring extensive electricity network upgrades. That makes hospitals, hotels and leisure facilities more promising initial markets than buildings dominated by winter space heating.
The investment also reveals how Great British Energy intends to use its £1 billion Energy Engineered in the UK programme. Rather than solely funding completed generating assets, the publicly owned company is taking commercial stakes in manufacturers at the point where they need capital to scale.
The £7.5 million commitment remains small compared with the funding required to decarbonise British heat, while the forecast jobs and cost reductions will depend on the eventual factory and order book. Its value will therefore be judged by whether Naked Energy can move from individual showcase installations to repeatable commercial deployment and a competitive UK manufacturing operation.
