South West Local Solar Scheme

The South West Local Solar Scheme (SWLSS) Part 1, led by Bristol Energy Coop (BEC) and delivered in partnership with Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE). The scheme installed 2MW rooftop solar on 12 community buildings across the West of England Combined Authority region; seven sites in Bristol, three in Bath and North East Somerset and two in South Gloucestershire. Prioritising sites in lower-income areas, the scheme removes upfront costs for organisations, which act as a significant barrier to solar panel installation, enabling them to benefit from on-site clean energy and cost savings. The scheme delivers not only environmental benefits but financial savings for the site, contributions to local community energy projects, local jobs, and broadly fosters community engagement with renewable energy.

The Opportunity

The scheme’s two key aims are: 1) to address financial and practical barriers preventing community organisations from installing solar power; 2) to maximise the roof space to generate clean energy, meaning that where surplus energy is generated over and above what the building uses, it can be sold to the grid. By using the Community Energy business model, the scheme provided fully funded solar installations, enabling participating sites to access price-capped, low-carbon energy with no upfront investment.

The scheme is also delivering against the Combined Authority’s Climate and Ecological Strategy and Action Plan (CESAP) Net Zero Energy theme and demonstrates how community-led renewables can accelerate decarbonisation while strengthening local economies.

Benefits and Outcomes

Through offering a cheaper energy price than the grid, annual energy cost savings across partner sites are expected to be £79,000.

The sites will also have energy price certainty from a price cap on the energy generated from the solar arrays. This means that the communities will be insulated against future energy price spikes.

The solar rooftop systems added as part of the scheme are community-owned through a share offering from BEC and BWCE.

A portion of the income from the energy sold is donated to community grants. It is estimated that these rooftop solar systems will contribute £188,000 to community projects over 25 years.

8 of the 12 partners sites are in more deprived areas of the region, according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD).

The partner sites/organisations benefiting include a variety of organisations embedded in their local community, such as: several charities, education institutions, community residential care homes, a leisure centre and a local business.

The project installed almost 2 MW of solar capacity, which will deliver clean energy to the sites as well as additional surplus to the grid.

Estimated first-year emissions savings of 321 tCO2e and lifetime savings of over 8,000 tCO2e compared to using electricity from the grid.

It is estimated that the approach of the scheme to install solar panels on the maximum amount of roof space available, has doubled the amount of clean energy being generated at partner sites.

Two full-time equivalent green jobs were created, plus work for local installers and two work experience placements.

Each site has an element of community engagement some of which feed into education and careers. For example, one of the installers visited a school careers fair to share information about jobs in the solar sector.

When installing solar, building owners tend to match the size of their array to the amount of energy that is used onsite. The approach taken by this scheme, with funding from the Combined Authority, was to maximise the array size on each site in order to scale up other benefits. This led to:

Around double the energy generation than would generally be installed on the partner sites.

By installing larger arrays at fewer host sites, fixed costs were reduced (such as legal fees, structural surveys and planning consent).

Spreading generation over a smaller number of sites means simpler and better value operation and maintenance, with fewer site “quirks” to contend with.

Should future regulation change make it possible for the sites to power neighbouring properties, the capacity will already be in place to do so.

Funding

The Combined Authority contributed £66.5k in revenue funding for feasibility and development and £486k in capital funding for installation costs. Grant was awarded in 2023 through the Green Recovery Fund - Energy call. Match funding of over £1.4 million was secured through community share and bond offers, bringing the total project cost to just under £2 million. Combined Authority support was critical in bridging the funding gap to unlock the installation of solar panels across multiple sites, without the need for partner sites to make upfront investment yet still gain benefits from solar rooftop electricity generation. Without this grant support, the scale and breadth of the scheme would not have been possible.

Key Learnings

Early engagement with building owners on rooftop permissions is essential to prevent delays in installation once all the feasibility is complete.
Robust procurement and contract management processes deliver better value, improve dispute management, and reduce risks.

Accurate financial modelling, including realistic staffing costs, improves long-term financial sustainability.

Technical problem-solving is also crucial, especially when working on diverse and sensitive sites.

Engaging communities directly, through events, presentations, and educational opportunities, helps maximise project impact and fosters public support for renewables.

Collaboration with Bath and West Community Energy ensured eligibility for the scheme across the whole region and demonstrates the strength of the local Community Energy sector.

Looking Forward

Part 2 of the SWLSS scheme is supported by two further awards of the Combined Authority’s Local Energy Scheme fund. This will enable installation of more rooftop solar systems on partners sites that were identified in Part 1. The model is highly replicable, combining community financing with technical expertise to deliver low-carbon infrastructure at scale. Insights gained will inform future community energy initiatives and contribute to regional policy on renewable energy deployment.