Onezero: Revolutionising home energy in Lewes (and soon Brighton)

Onezero is a new local enterprise that’s on a mission to make it easy to introduce green energy improvements at home – starting with homes here in Lewes, and soon Brighton too. Founder and CEO Howard Johns explains what’s been happening since Onezero’s launch last year.

It’s hard to believe how time has flown since Onezero Energy launched in Lewes last year. We’ve been pretty busy since then, so we thought it’s time for an update on our journey.

Who are Onezero?

For those unfamiliar with us, Onezero offers a comprehensive service to retrofit homes in Lewes and its surroundings with a package of energy improvements, including solar panels, batteries, insulation, and heat pumps.

Our team brings decades of experience in home energy upgrades, and we’ve simplified the process with pre-packaged systems that fit a wide variety of homes in our community. These systems can cut carbon emissions by up to 70% and reduce energy bills by over 50%, and can be fitted within a two-week installation period.

Home energy challenges

One of the biggest things you can do to reduce your impact on climate is fix your home energy. But although research indicates over 70% of UK adults want to take action on climate change, only 40% of homeowners are considering energy improvements at home. This is despite the significant financial, health and environmental benefits that an ‘energy retrofit’ can deliver.  

We realise there are a number of barriers that prevent people from acting, such as uncertainty about what steps to take, compounded by conflicting advice from providers focused on single technologies. Then there’s the substantial upfront cost of these upgrades, despite their potential to pay for themselves in as little as five years.

If any of these challenges resonate with you, Onezero can help.

Street meets

Onezero set out to encourage communities to collaborate on home energy upgrades, and the response has been incredibly positive. People are engaging with the idea and inspiring neighbours to consider energy upgrades as well. We’ve hosted about ten “street meets,” informal gatherings where residents can learn from experts and each other about the possibilities. These events, held in Lewes, Ringmer, Denton, and Forest Row, have given people the confidence to take action. If you’re interested in organizing a street meet in your area, let us know—we’re eager to support you!

Skilling up

We also set out to see if we could support local tradespeople who haven’t previously undertaken energy upgrade projects to deliver these improvements, and we’ve seen enthusiastic interest from local tradespeople. We’re about to celebrate our first “100kW heroes,” tradespeople who have installed 100kW of solar power in just five months.

Results so far

So far, we’ve been delivering solar, battery, and insulation upgrades, and we’re about to install our first heat pump, marking our first fully electrified home. An exciting milestone for us. The data from our first Onezero homes are compelling: while solar power contributed just 3% of the UK’s power grid from January to March 2024, our upgraded homes achieved over 41% of their electricity from solar, either directly or stored in batteries.

In the last two months, this percentage has been even higher, with our homes providing 65% of their electricity needs from their solar and battery – whilst solar provided less than 6% of the grid’s power in the same period. We have collectively exported to the grid an extra 40% more energy than we have used in these homes as well – effectively powering their neighbours’ homes!

What’s great about this? These Onezero homes are significantly reducing their financial support for companies involved in fossil fuel extraction, and of course their bills. A kilowatt (kW) of power generated and used locally has huge impacts upstream. The conventional fossil-fuelled electricity generating system is only 40% efficient – meaning each solar kilowatt removes the need for 2.5 kilowatts generated from fossil fuels at the power station.

Help spread the word

Our mission is to make it easy for entire towns and cities to follow the Onezero model over the next decade. Imagine the impact: reduced local pollution, better health, less fuel poverty, and the creation of numerous jobs. It’s a vision we believe is entirely possible.

You can help us make that vision a reality.  That could involve taking action on your house, supporting folks in your street to take action, or simply sharing the word

To that end, we are launching our service in Brighton on the evening of 14 June so we’d be super grateful if you could share this with friends there – more details here. We are planning to sign up 1,000 homes to retrofit. We are especially keen to sign up with folks who don’t know how to finance their upgrades, as that is one of the next problems we are trying to solve. If that sounds like you – or someone you know – get in touch!

To sign up your home to Onezero, email:
Learn more at: www.onezero.energy
Get involved in the Onezero Brighton launch: https://www.onezero.energy/brightonlaunchs