New grants are set to hand households a £12,000 boost if they earn less than £36,000 a year. Ministers are fast-tracking the rollout of solar panel and heat pump grants in the wake of the escalating Iran war crisis, according to the i.

The accelerated rollout means that ‘low income families’, which the i estimates will be defined as households earning £35,000 a year or less, will be given grants to install solar panels and heat pumps valued at between £9,000 and £12,000, with no need to pay it back, while higher earners will get interest-free loans.

The government’s Warm Homes Plan, released in January, sets aside £5bn of funding to upgrade homes to renewable energy by 2030, a move which will reduce the impact of spiralling gas and electricity prices because homes will be able to generate their own electricity instead of relying on the National Grid supply for all their energy.

The Warm Homes Plan says: “Our vision is for every household in Britain to have the opportunity to benefit from clean energy technology in their home. We will harness the power of rooftop solar, battery storage, clean heat and energy efficiency to save millions of households hundreds of pounds on their bills.

“By 2030 we will: – Triple the number of homes with solar today by deploying panels on the rooftops of up to 3 million more homes.

“Deliver over 450,000 heat pump installations per year. Upgrade up to 5 million homes in total.”

Under the Warm Homes Plan’s Warm Homes: Local Grant, households earning less than £36,000 can apply right now to get free solar panels, insulation, heat pumps and smart controls.

The government explains: “To be eligible, your home must:

• be in England
• be privately owned (either by you or your landlord)
• have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of D, E, F or G – if you do not know your home’s EPC, you can find it out when you apply

“Your household income must usually be £36,000 a year or less. If you earn more than that, you might still be eligible if either:

Respected energy analyst Cornwall Insight said its prediction for the watchdog’s price cap from July to September now stands at £1,929 for a typical dual fuel household – an increase of £288 or 18% on April’s cap.

Octopus Energy boss Greg Jackson told the BBC that the firm has seen a ‘huge jolt’ in sales of solar panels and heat pumps in March compared to February, including a 50% rise in solar panel sales and 30% more heat pumps, even though sales are usually fairly steady month to month, as households look to insulate themselves against the crisis.