What Solar Together is
Solar Together is a group-buying scheme for domestic solar PV and battery storage. It is delivered by iChoosr, a Dutch group-buying specialist that operates similar schemes across the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland, and it is fronted locally by county and district councils. Registration is free and non-binding. The council does not sell you anything itself: it hosts the sign-up page, promotes the round to residents, and picks the installer via iChoosr's auction platform.
The rebrand to Switch Together in some councils (Wiltshire, Dorset, Solihull, Monmouthshire) is cosmetic. It reflects the fact that iChoosr now runs bulk-buy rounds for other products, including heat pumps and EV chargers, under the same banner. The solar-and-battery product itself is unchanged.
Solar Together is not a grant, a subsidy or a government scheme. It is a private-sector reverse auction hosted by a council. You still pay full price to the winning installer. The saving comes entirely from the installer's willingness to trim their margin to win hundreds of jobs at once.
How the auction actually works
The mechanics are the same in every participating council area:
- Registration. The council opens a free online form for six to eight weeks. You enter your address, roof orientation, roof material, current electricity use, and whether you want a battery included. Registration is non-binding.
- Reverse auction. Once registration closes, iChoosr invites pre-vetted installers to bid on the aggregated demand. The lowest compliant bid wins the whole group. The winning installer sets one fixed price per configuration (for example, one price for a 4kWp solar-only install, one for 4kWp plus 5kWh battery, one for the battery add-on to an existing system).
- Personal recommendation. Roughly four to six weeks after the auction, every registrant receives a personalised proposal by email showing the recommended system size, the winning installer, the fixed price and a payment schedule. You have around four weeks to accept or decline. No obligation.
- Technical survey. If you accept, the installer sends a surveyor. This is where the price can move up if the roof needs scaffolding beyond the standard allowance, if a G99 grid application is required for a bigger inverter, or if the battery needs a different location than assumed. Survey uplifts are common: budget an extra 5 to 10%.
- Install. Systems typically land within four to eight months of registration closing. High-demand rounds have run longer.
Which councils are running rounds in 2026
The 2026 round calendar has been unusually busy as councils try to move households onto solar before the 0% VAT relief on installed batteries ends on 31 March 2027. Recent and current 2026 rounds include:
| Council area | 2026 round window | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wiltshire (Switch Together) | Registration to 7 Aug 2026 | Solar, battery, EV charger options |
| Solihull (Switch Together Solar) | 23 Feb - 26 Apr 2026 | Installs completing summer 2026 |
| Dorset (Switch Together) | Installs by end of June 2026 | Round already closed for 2026 cycle |
| Surrey (Solar Together Surrey) | Installs by end of March 2026 | Fresh round expected autumn 2026 |
| Worcestershire (Wyre Forest and neighbours) | Registration opened Feb 2026 | First joint district round in the county |
| Cardiff (Solar Together South East Wales) | Closed 5 June 2026 | Cross-council Welsh round |
| Birmingham (Solar Together Birmingham) | 2026 rounds running | Largest UK single-council round by volume |
| Hampshire (Solar Together Hampshire) | Rounds continue in 2026 | Long-standing scheme, multiple installers rotated |
If your council is not on the list, check your local authority's climate or sustainability page. Rounds open on a rolling basis and are not always publicised outside the immediate area. The best current index of live rounds is the solartogether.co.uk landing page.
What the bundle actually costs after the auction
iChoosr does not publish auction results in a single place, but recent participants and installer partners quote the following ranges for a typical UK home in 2026. All prices are installed, MCS certified, with 0% VAT included:
| Configuration | Retail direct quote (2026) | Solar Together typical bid (2026) | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4kWp solar only (10-12 panels) | £6,600 - £8,500 | £5,400 - £7,000 | ~15 to 20% |
| 4kWp solar + 5kWh battery | £10,000 - £14,000 | £8,500 - £11,500 | ~15 to 20% |
| 4kWp solar + 10kWh battery | £12,500 - £17,000 | £10,500 - £14,000 | ~15 to 18% |
| Battery add-on only (5kWh, existing solar) | £3,800 - £5,500 | £3,200 - £4,700 | ~10 to 15% |
| Battery only, no solar | £3,000 - £6,000 | Not typically offered | N/A |
Two things worth understanding here. First, the 15 to 20% saving is real, but it comes with take-it-or-leave-it hardware choice. Solar Together bids are usually anchored on a specific inverter and battery brand chosen by the winning installer. If you have a preference for a particular battery brand or a specific inverter feature (for example, Enphase micro-inverters with per-panel monitoring, or a Tesla Powerwall 3 for the app experience), the direct route is better because you can pick the kit.
Second, the auction price often does not include everything you need. Scaffolding beyond the standard allowance, DNO fees for a G99 upgrade, an isolator upgrade for a large battery and roof repairs are all typically survey uplifts. Ask for the survey addendum policy in writing before you accept.
Where the bulk buy falls short: battery-only households
Roughly a third of UK homes cannot install solar economically. Flats, terraces with shaded or north-facing roofs, listed buildings, leaseholders and tenants who want a battery without touching the roof structure are all in this group. Solar Together is not built for them. The auction is anchored on the solar job, and installers who bid into the scheme are usually solar specialists first and battery specialists second.
This matters because a standalone battery has become a genuinely strong economic case in the UK in 2026 without any solar at all. On Octopus Go, an 11.5kWh battery charged overnight at 9.5p/kWh and discharged against a daytime rate of 26 to 32p/kWh saves the average three-bed home £700 to £1,000 a year in tariff arbitrage. See our full savings breakdown for the calculation, or the regional savings by postcode tables for your area.
The Solar Together bundle route does not lock a battery-only buyer out of anything: it just is not designed for them. Compared to a £4,599 installed 11.5kWh battery on a fixed direct quote, the bulk-buy route would need to shave 20 to 30% off the £3,000 to £6,000 battery-only price band to compete, and it does not.
Rule of thumb. If you want solar, Solar Together is a reasonable competitive route. If you want a battery, go direct: the bulk-buy discount does not apply to standalone batteries in most rounds, and the direct-quote price is already competitive.
Solar Together vs a standalone battery: worked comparison
Take a typical three-bed semi with a south-facing roof and a household using around 3,500 kWh of electricity a year. Assume Octopus Go at 9.5p overnight and roughly 28p at other times, no EV, and gas heating.
| Route | Upfront cost | Annual saving | Simple payback | 10-year net saving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar Together: 4kWp solar + 5kWh battery | ~£9,500 | ~£850 (solar self-consumption + battery arbitrage + SEG export) | ~11 years | -£1,000 to -£500 |
| Solar Together: 4kWp solar + 10kWh battery | ~£12,000 | ~£1,050 | ~11 years | -£1,500 to -£500 |
| Direct: Habo Energy 11.5kWh battery, no solar | £4,599 | ~£800 (Octopus Go arbitrage) | ~5.7 years | +£3,400 |
| Direct: Habo Energy 11.5kWh battery + 4kWp solar bought separately later | £4,599 + ~£6,500 = £11,099 | ~£1,100 | ~10 years | -£100 to +£800 |
The lesson from the arithmetic is not that solar is a bad investment, it is that the marginal return on adding solar to a household that already has a battery on a smart tariff is thin. The battery is capturing most of the addressable savings on its own by shifting cheap overnight electricity into the daytime and evening. Solar then adds another £200 to £350 a year on top by displacing some daytime imports and earning a Smart Export Guarantee rate of typically 5 to 15p on the surplus. That is real money, but at £6,000 to £8,000 upfront for a 4kWp install, the payback on the solar layer alone is 20 years or more.
This is one of the reasons the battery vs solar panels question keeps coming up. On a smart time-of-use tariff, the battery does the heavy lifting. Solar is a nice-to-have if you have the roof and the capital.
The 31 March 2027 cliff edge applies to both routes
Whichever route you choose, the same VAT deadline hits. From 1 April 2027, the 0% VAT rate on installed home battery storage (extended to standalone batteries on 1 February 2024) reverts, initially expected to 5%. On a £4,599 battery that is roughly £220 of extra tax. On a £11,500 solar-plus-battery bundle it is closer to £575. The 1 April 2026 China battery export VAT rebate cut is already pushing wholesale cell prices up 8 to 15%, so the underlying hardware is unlikely to fall enough to absorb it.
The Warm Homes Loan Scheme launches through participating lenders in September 2026 with 0% to 3% headline rates on solar, battery and heat pump work. That gives a six-month window (September 2026 to March 2027) where a UK homeowner can stack 0% VAT on the hardware, 0% VAT on the electricity that charges it (thanks to the October 2026 electricity VAT cut) and 0-3% finance on the install. That window is real, and it applies whether you buy through Solar Together or direct.
How to decide
A short decision tree:
- Council has an active round + you want solar + you want the paperwork simplified. Solar Together is a reasonable route. Register, get the personalised quote, compare it against two direct quotes from local MCS installers, and accept if the Solar Together bid is genuinely 15%+ cheaper for the same hardware.
- Council has an active round + you already have solar + you want to add a battery. Register for the battery-only option if the round offers it. Also get two direct quotes: retrofit battery pricing is often more competitive going direct than the bulk-buy route implies.
- No active round in your area, or you want a battery only. Do not wait. A standalone battery on a smart tariff saves £700 to £1,000 a year on its own. Habo Energy fits an 11.5kWh MCS-certified system for £4,599 installed, so you can lock in the 0% VAT relief and start saving in a matter of weeks, not the six to twelve months a Solar Together round typically takes end to end.
For the wider context on installer choice and the 2026 consumer protection reset, see how to vet a UK home battery installer in 2026. If you are weighing the value of the roof at all, our battery storage without solar primer covers the case for skipping solar entirely.
Independent overviews of the scheme mechanics are published by iChoosr's council partners: Wiltshire Council's Switch Together page, Surrey County Council and the general Energy Saving Trust guidance on group-buying schemes are the most reliable references.
Bottom line
Solar Together is a genuinely useful scheme for the specific household it was designed for: someone in a participating council area who wants a full solar-plus-battery install, is willing to accept the installer's hardware choice, and would rather have iChoosr handle the vetting than get three direct quotes themselves. The 15 to 20% saving is real and the paperwork is lighter.
It is not the right route for a household that only wants a battery. The auction is not built for battery-only buyers, the bulk discount does not apply cleanly to standalone battery work, and the timeline (six to twelve months from registration to install) is much longer than a direct quote. If you already know a battery on Octopus Go pays for itself in five to seven years without ever touching the roof, going direct to a battery specialist gets you there faster and at a competitive price.
Battery only, no solar, no bulk buy needed
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