Up to 1,000 homes across the Liverpool City Region are set to be fitted with energy saving solar panels and battery storage as part of a money saving, group buying scheme

STEVE Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, launched Solar Together last year to enable residents to cut their energy costs while also reducing their carbon emissions. It is part of a raft of measures; including fitting energy saving measures to 5,500 homes; to enable the City Region to reach the ambitious target to be Net Zero by 2040 or sooner. A total of 7,962 residents initially registered an interest in the innovative solar scheme, which promises an average 26% discount on the installation costs, with 1,185 now signing up and paying the deposit.

Councillor David Baines, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Portfolio Holder for Climate Emergency and Renewable Energy, said:- "We know that many people are interested in installing solar panels both to cut their energy bills and to do their bit for the environment but may have been put off by finding a trustworthy contractor or just because the process seemed too complicated. Solar Together helps to address those concerns and give residents a simpler way to make the leap; the take up across the City Region shows that many people have now taken that step. We know that we will need to halve our total energy use as a City Region to hit our target of being net zero carbon by 2040 or sooner and every house and business that can produce its own energy takes it that much closer to our target."

Solar Together Liverpool City Region was launched in August 2022, the latest in a number of successful programmes run across the UK.

Nationally, the initiative has delivered over 7,000 installations, preventing 130,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

Some 7,962 residents across the City Region registered an interest and received an offer by mid-October.

Out of these, 1,114 accepted the offer for solar panels; 145 opting to include battery storage; with a further 71 households choosing to retrofit battery storage to an existing solar installation.

Between 800 and 1,000 projects are expected to go ahead, depending on survey results.

Companies in Birkenhead, Wigan and Mold won the contracts to carry out the work, with 670 surveys now carried out and 51 projects completed.

The scheme was most popular in Wirral, with 444 installations, followed by Liverpool with 254 and Sefton with 207. St Helens accounted for 92 installations with 91 in Halton and 26 in Knowsley.

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has already fitted energy saving features free of charge to more than 1,300 properties occupied by low-income households across the City Region, as part of a £60million programme to retrofit 5,500 homes.

Councillor Graham Morgan, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Portfolio Holder for Housing and Spatial Framework, said:- "With energy prices continuing to increase, residents across Liverpool City Region are looking for opportunities to reduce their carbon emissions, save on energy bills and increase their independence from the grid. With our scheme to retrofit energy saving measures, we are continuing to work with our local Authorities to help people deal with the cost of living crisis and meet our environmental targets. For those looking to invest in solar panels, the Solar Together group-buying scheme has helped drive down installation costs and it is encouraging to see so many people take advantage."