Renewable heat technology firm Naked Energy plans to establish an automated UK manufacturing facility after securing investment from Great British Energy and Barclays Climate Ventures to scale production of its solar thermal and hybrid solar technology.
Great British Energy (GBE) is investing £7.5 million in British renewable-heat technology company Naked Energy, in what the publicly owned energy company says is its first solar supply-chain investment.
The investment, made through GBE’s Energy Engineered in the UK programme, forms part of a combined £8.875 million investment alongside existing shareholder Barclays Climate Ventures and closes Naked Energy’s £27 million Series B financing.
The funding will support plans for a new automated manufacturing facility in the UK, bringing production in-house and seeking to reduce unit costs as the company increases commercial deployment of its Virtu solar technology.
A location for the facility has yet to be determined. Naked Energy says it could create up to 40 direct skilled manufacturing jobs and around 100 indirect roles.
The investment also places a spotlight on the challenge of decarbonising heat in commercial and industrial buildings, where gas remains widely used for hot water, space heating and industrial processes.
Naked Energy’s Virtu product range includes solar thermal collectors capable of generating heat at temperatures of up to 120°C, alongside photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) collectors that produce both heat and electricity from the same rooftop area.
The company says the technology can reduce gas consumption by generating heat directly at the point of use, without adding to electrical demand on grid connections — potentially an important consideration for commercial and industrial sites facing constraints on available grid capacity.
Dan McGrail, CEO of Great British Energy, said: “Cutting our reliance on gas is one of the biggest challenges we face, both for energy security and for keeping bills down. Naked Energy has developed a technology that tackles this head on and when you see it working at iconic UK institutions like the British Library and Wimbledon, you understand what is possible.
“At Great British Energy we are backing UK innovators like Naked Energy and helping to create skilled jobs. Through our Energy Engineered in the UK programme we are helping them to manufacture here at home and go further, faster.”
Naked Energy’s technology has already been installed at sites including the British Library and the All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon. Its Virtu range uses evacuated-tube technology in a low-profile arrangement designed to maximise the amount of available roof area that can be used for energy generation.
The company holds more than 20 patents and says it is the first manufacturer of an evacuated hybrid solar PVT collector to receive TÜV Rheinland certification.
At the Grade I listed British Library, Naked Energy says Virtu was the only solar technology to receive planning permission because its low profile meant it would not alter the building’s roofline or silhouette.
Great British Energy and Naked Energy also intend to explore opportunities to deploy the technology across suitable public-sector buildings. This could include financing models designed to allow organisations to install renewable-heat systems without meeting the entire capital cost upfront.
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said: “Homegrown, clean power is an opportunity to reindustrialise Britain as we’re backing UK supply chains to help deliver the energy transition.
“Great British Energy is supporting well-paid manufacturing jobs for communities, while providing cheaper and secure energy for households and businesses.”
The investment comes as the decarbonisation of heat remains a significant component of the UK’s transition away from fossil fuels. While heat pumps offer an increasingly important route to electrifying building heat, technologies capable of supplying renewable heat directly could have a complementary role at sites requiring higher-temperature hot water or process heat, or where electrical grid capacity is constrained.
Naked Energy is also developing digital tools for system design and performance monitoring, as well as Heat-as-a-Service models intended to reduce barriers to the adoption of renewable-heat systems.
Its technology can also be combined with heat pumps and other low-carbon heating systems. The company argues that solar thermal generation can improve the efficiency of such hybrid systems while reducing the additional electrical demand associated with meeting heat requirements solely through electrification.
Christophe Williams FEI, founder and CEO of Naked Energy, said: “The UK has world-class engineering capability and the opportunity to lead a rapidly growing global market for renewable heat. Great British Energy’s investment will enable us to establish a major UK manufacturing base, reduce production costs and scale a British-designed technology platform that combines advanced solar collectors, system design and digital monitoring.
“Heat is too often overlooked in the energy debate, despite accounting for a major share of fossil-fuel consumption. This investment will help us bring renewable heat to more hospitals, hotels, public buildings and industrial sites in the UK and internationally, while creating skilled jobs and export opportunities here at home.”
Barclays Climate Ventures first invested in Naked Energy in 2022 and followed this with further investment in 2024. Barclays has also supported deployments of the technology at its Cambridge Eagle Lab and the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
Daniel Hanna, Group Head of Sustainable and Transition Finance at Barclays, said: “Since our first investment in Naked Energy four years ago, we have worked closely with the business as it has grown, connecting them to our network of partners and clients, leading to the installation of their technology at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
“Our latest investment will help Naked Energy scale UK manufacturing, create skilled jobs and bring renewable heat to buildings across Britain. It shows how public and private capital can work together to strengthen UK energy security and grow a domestic renewable energy industry.”
Naked Energy is currently delivering projects in Europe and North America and has also secured backing from E.ON’s Energy Infrastructure Solutions. The new investment is intended to move the company into a larger-scale manufacturing phase, increasing UK production capacity while supporting further domestic and international deployment.
