Ilona Amos: Save money and planet with Ikea shopping trip?

But it has to be acknowledged that Ikea revolutionised the homewares industry when it introduced its “stack-’em-high, sell-’em-cheap” warehouses, allowing customers to buy smartly designed furniture off the shelf to take home and build for themselves (in theory).

And regardless of whether you love the products or hate them – though I doubt there is a home in the land that does not contain at least a few tea lights and some shelving – we must admit the Scandinavian retailer is an innovator.

Now the furniture giant has its eyes on transforming another sector, one that aligns with its own environmental ideals.

According to a recent survey for Ikea, a third of UK householders would like to harness the sun to power their homes. It also revealed this is not driven by determination to save the dear green planet but rather the dear green pounds.

In response, Ikea has announced that solar panels will now be available alongside its flatpacks – even in Scotland. The store at Braehead in Glasgow is one of just three in the UK that will stock the devices in the first instance, with the rest following suit by the end of summer – whenever that may be.

Yes, this may sound bonkers in a nation where we barely glimpse the sun for months on end. But technological advances have increased efficiency and brought down costs to the point where solar photovoltaic (PV) schemes are much more viable than they once were – even north of the Border.

Potential solar generation figures for January, created by a website that calculates the amount of renewable energy that could be created from actual weather conditions, suggest households in Aberdeen could have satisfied a fifth of their electricity needs during one of the year’s darkest months. And if you cast back to July 2015, the amount rises to an impressive 94 per cent – despite last summer’s no-show.

Solar was responsible for only a small part of electricity production in the UK until around five years ago, but has grown rapidly as a result of falling costs and the introduction of a feed-in tariff subsidy in 2010. As of February, total installed capacity stood at over 9.2 gigawatts.

The sector passed an important milestone earlier this month when solar provided more power to homes and businesses than coal for a day. However, the number of new schemes being planned has plummeted since the UK government announced it will slash incentives. The cuts have sparked an outcry from the renewables industry and green campaigners.

This doesn’t seem to have put off the Swedes, who say “we see solar as the future”. They have even put their own money where their mouths are by buying a wind farm in Aberdeenshire and fitting 39,000 solar panels on store roofs across the country – 6,300 of them on the Glasgow and Edinburgh shops alone. Now they claim homeowners can enjoy a 6 per cent profit on their investment over a 20-year period.

And before you reach for a ladder and a set of Allen keys, self-assembly is not required. Fitting is part of the price, with a ten-panel system for a typical semi costing from £4,550.

Perhaps Ikea is on to something. Maybe they can save an ailing industry and the earth. Look out for “erect-your-own” wind turbines next.