Solar Together on the Wirral: how the city region's group buy works

How the scheme works

1. Register. You give your address and some details of your roof and electricity use. Registration costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
2. Auction. Approved installers bid for the work across all the registered homes. The scale is meant to bring the price down.
3. Personal recommendation. After the auction each household is emailed a recommendation based on the details it gave: a system size, the equipment and a price.
4. Decide. If you accept, the installer arranges a technical survey of your roof, confirms the details and installs. If you decline, nothing more happens.

The scheme was brought to the city region by the Combined Authority with iChoosr, a company that runs group-buying schemes for councils across Britain and now trades as Switch Together. Wirral Council supports the scheme and links to it from its housing pages.

What the rounds delivered

Combined Authority news releases (and their copies on the city region's Growth Platform), read 3 November 2026. Price comparisons are the scheme's own.

Wirral's strong take-up in the first round fits what else we know about the borough: it has a high share of owner-occupiers (65.0% of households, Census 2021) and a lot of semi-detached houses with a usable roof. By the end of 2025 the government counted 5,382 solar installations in Wirral in all, not only through the scheme.

Is a round open now?

We cannot tell you a date, because none has been published. On 3 November 2026 Wirral Council's Solar Together page said registration was open and the Switch Together website for Wirral invited sign-ups, but the Combined Authority had announced no fifth round and no auction or deadline appeared anywhere we looked. The fourth round's registration closed on 7 November 2025. If you are interested, check Wirral Council's page and the Combined Authority's news, and register if a round is running: it costs nothing to see the offer.

How to judge an offer

An offer from a group buy is still a quote, and it deserves the same checks as any other.

• Compare it with the averages. Divide the price by the system size in kW. The government's 2025/26 average for home installs was about £1,955 per kW up to 4 kW and £1,645 per kW for 4 to 10 kW. A group-buy price should beat those comfortably.
• Check the system suits your roof. The recommendation is based on what you told it. The survey will confirm it; ask what happens to the price if the surveyor finds the roof needs more scaffolding or fewer panels fit.
• Check the installer. Look it up on the MCS register and confirm its consumer code membership, exactly as you would for a firm you found yourself. See choosing an installer.
• Check the coastal questions. A standard specification may not include salt-mist tested panels or stainless fixings. If you live on the open coast, ask. See coastal homes.
• Check consent. A group buy does not change planning rules. If your home is listed or in Bromborough Pool, you need consent first. See conservation areas.

Group buy or your own quotes?

A group buy saves you the work of finding installers and usually gets a sharp price for a standard system. Getting your own quotes takes longer, but lets you choose the panels, inverter and layout, and talk to the installer before you commit. Nothing stops you doing both: register for a round, get two independent quotes as well, and compare all three on price per kW, predicted output, equipment and warranties. Whichever you choose, the decision is yours, and registering commits you to nothing.

Beware lookalikes

Because the scheme is council-backed, its name is sometimes borrowed. The genuine scheme is promoted by the Combined Authority and Wirral Council and run under the Switch Together name. If someone phones or knocks claiming to be "from Solar Together" or "from the council" with a deal that ends today, check with the council before you give any details.