Solar panel scheme is rolled out to homes in Halton

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region (LCR), 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 projects designed to enable the city region - of which Halton is one of six member councils - to reach a target of being net zero by 2040 or sooner.

The LCR 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 £60m programme to retrofit 5,500 homes.

Councillor Graham Morgan, LCR 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.”

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.

Councillor David Baines, Portfolio Holder for Climate Emergency and Renewable Energy, added: "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.”