This September, a solar power scheme Cheshire East Council launched for taxpayers, will turn one.

This time last year, Cheshire East Council launched their new solar scheme – 'Solar Together'. Now the scheme is back offering more residents the chance to save on their energy bills.

Solar Together is a group buying energy initiative, which provides residents with an opportunity to combat the increasing cost of living and high energy prices and reduce their reliance on the grid by generating clean energy. 

Cheshire East Council is collaborating with neighbouring Cheshire authorities and independent experts iChoosr, to make the transition to clean energy as cost effective and hassle-free as possible for homeowners across the region.

These are the steps to joining the scheme and potentially enjoying energy savings:

1. Residents can register their details on the Solar Together website.

2. Solar Together hold a reverse auction with pre-vetted installers, who compete to offer registrants the most competitive price.

3. Registrants receive a personal recommendation for their home, based on the information provided during registration.

4. Registrants can then decide if they want to accept the recommendation, which will include information about the winning installer, the proposed installation, costs and savings. A small refundable deposit will be required at this stage. There is no obligation to go forward with the recommendation. 

5. If the recommendation is accepted, the winning installer will arrange a roof survey and set an installation date. All installations aim to be complete within six months of acceptance.

The first phase of Solar Together in Cheshire enjoyed significant success including:

• 584 installations being completed – with 240 of those coming in Cheshire East;
• 89% of participants also chose to have a battery installed as a secondary source of saving energy – this figure was 90% in Cheshire East
• The estimated carbon reduction over 25 years from the installations delivered through Solar Together Cheshire and Warrington 2023 is more than 12,315 tonnes – that's the equivalent of taking 500 petrol cars off the road.

Councillor Mick Warren, chair of Cheshire East Council's environment and communities committee, said: "As has already been shown by the positive uptake of the scheme from Cheshire East residents in its first phase, there is a healthy appetite for going solar. 

"Group buying is an excellent way to generate your own energy and schemes such as Solar Together demonstrate what people can achieve when they are able to access reliable information.

"The longer-term benefits of the scheme are of course two-fold – the benefits for each resident signing up are clear but of course there's also the important aspect of the positive contribution to the reduction of climate pollution they are making. Naturally this dovetails neatly with our 2045 boroughwide target."

Macclesfield: You can register for Solar Together on this link.