After receiving close to 4,000 registrations in the first phase of Solar Together London, the city of London has launched the second phase of the scheme. The scheme allows Londoners to opt for solar through an auction system.
Under the Solar Action Plan, introduced by London Mayor Sadiq Khan in his London Environment Strategy, the city government launched Solar Together London in five boroughs in March 2018. Since then, the number of boroughs interested in implementing the program has increased to 12.
Homeowners in these places were invited to show their interest in installing solar PV. Interested homes were grouped together. Solar installers were then asked to bid against each other in the auction to offer the best price. The process was outsourced to group buying expert iChooser.
SolarCentury and Ikea won the first phase of the auction scheme offering savings of 35% on the cost of solar installations. Out of the total 4,000 registrations received, over 1,100 accepted the offer. "The group buying model is proven to be a solution which helps householders to make a decision with a compelling price and gives installers access to much needed customers. And the real winner is the environment," said UK Solar Manager for iChoosr Ruud Frijstein.
The entire program comes under the overarching Energy for Londoners program, through which the UK capital aims to become a zero-carbon city by the year 2050. The city government aims to increase the installed solar power capacity by 'ten times more than today's levels' to 1 GW by 2030, and 2 GW by 2050. Khan had released a draft program in August 2017 (see London Targets 2 GW Solar). A final version has now been published.