A successful scheme to help district homeowners and both small and medium-sized businesses to purchase high quality solar panels at a competitive price is relaunching this month.
“Following the great success of last year’s ‘Solar Together’ scheme, we are thrilled to be working alongside West Sussex County Council and iChoosr once again to offer Chichester District businesses and residents the opportunity to access affordable solar panels and batteries,” says Councillor Penny Plant, Cabinet Member for Environment and Chichester Contract Services. “Solar panels are a great way to reduce your carbon emissions while at the same time reducing your energy bill.
“The council will be contacting households that are thought to be suitable for this group-buying scheme by letter from mid-September, inviting them to take part. However, anyone who is interested in joining the scheme can register their interest by visiting www.solartogether.co.uk/chichester/home from 23 August until 28 September 2021. It is free to register, and there is no obligation to proceed with an installation.”
The scheme works as follows:
- Registration: The homeowner registers their interest in the scheme for free at: www.solartogether.co.uk/chichester/home. They provide information about their roof, such as its size.
- Auction: A supplier ‘auction’ will be held on 28 September, when approved solar suppliers will bid to supply solar panels to all of the households who have registered their interest, with the most competitive bid winning.
The group-buying scheme provides an economy of scale, so the more people that register, the better the deal should be for each household.
- Personal recommendation: From the start of October, those who have signed up will be emailed a personal recommendation and quote. This is based on the roof details given during registration, and will be provided by the supplier whose bid offered the best value for money at the end of the auction.
- Decision: Those who have signed up to the scheme will then need to decide if they want to accept the recommendation and quote. There is no obligation to continue. They will have until 26 November to decide.
- Installation: If the recommendation and quote is accepted, the winning supplier will be in contact to survey the roof and set an installation date.
Telephone and email support will be available throughout the process.
Cllr Plant adds: “Solar Together follows highly successful schemes run across the country in the past few years, which have delivered over 3,700 installations and an impressive 61,000 tonnes of avoided lifetime carbon emissions.
“We all have a very important part to play in helping to combat climate change. Encouraging people to consider improving their homes with green, energy-efficient solutions like solar panels is a key part of our Climate Change Emergency Action Plan. The plan sets out all the work we are doing to tackle climate change, including how we, as a council, will continue to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the work that we do, and how we can bring individuals and organisations together to help them reduce their emissions too.
“Schemes like Solar Together Sussex will be crucial on our journey to achieving not only our own targets but also the national climate emergency target of zero net carbon by 2050.”
For more information about Solar Together Sussex, please visit: www.solartogether.co.uk/chichester/home
