Domestic Solar PV Group Purchasing Scheme 2026

In May 2025, West Sussex County Council (WSCC) launched a procurement exercise to identify an experienced partner capable of delivering a council-supported solar PV and battery storage scheme for residents and small businesses in Sussex, including East Sussex and Brighton & Hove.

Under the terms of this procurement, WSCC required the delivery partner to manage a network of pre-vetted installers with the experience and capacity to deliver a large volume of installations on time, to a high standard, and at a competitive price for Sussex residents. Their responsibilities also included delivering and managing all aspects of the customer journey from targeted marketing and lead generation to customer service, installation, and aftercare; reporting to WSCC as required.

By realising economies of scale made possible by the volume of customer referrals, the delivery partner was also asked to achieve the installations at a price that is demonstrably lower than prevailing industry average install costs. WSCC would derive a modest commission from the delivery partner for each installation completed in order to cover its costs and ensure the scheme is cost neutral to the councils involved, while also contributing toward the county council’s action on fuel poverty.

2. Current status

Following evaluation of the tenders submitted earlier this year, WSCC decided to terminate the procurement as it was not possible to identify the most advantageous tender and recommend contract award.

WSCC has reviewed its procurement approach and identified changes it wishes to make to the instructions given to bidders and the evaluation methodology applied. These improvements are intended to improve the fairness and effectiveness of the process and officers’ ability to evaluate bids with diverse delivery models on a like for like basis.

Once the review is complete and changes implemented, WSCC intends to go back out to the market at the earliest opportunity.

Market engagement

WSCC is currently finalising its revised procurement approach. It is seeking views on the proposed changes, which will ensure bidders provide sufficient evidence that they can deliver a long-term, sustainable scheme to a high quality and at a competitive price for residents.

Specifically, WSCC will be requesting a greater level of detail in relation to scheme marketing and financial transparency as follows:

• Marketing - Provide a detailed, costed, and targeted marketing plan that is realistically capable of generating a significant number of new customer registrations (minimum 7,000) per scheme round? Bidders will be asked to specify a) detailed overview of marketing approach b) data sets used to identify target properties c) specific marketing channels used to reach customers d) company resources (staff, budget, channels etc.) available to manage and deliver marketing activity e) precise information about roles and responsibilities in delivering the marketing plan (including any anticipated role played by the local authority) f) clear evidence of where you have previously delivered this approach successfully and at an equivalent scale.
• Financial transparency - Based on your company’s operating model and using group purchasing to drive quality and competitive pricing, provide detailed cost information for a defined sample of solar PV and battery installations. Bidders will be provided with set assumptions on which to base their calculations. In responding to this element of the quality evaluation, bidders will provide a breakdown of all items that would influence the cost per kWp to the customer when installing at scale including a) technical hardware b) scaffolding c) management overhead d) commission from installer to delivery partner e) management fee to WSCC e) profit margin. Bidders that consider themselves to be delivery partners (i.e. customer-facing intermediary companies working with accredited installers) will be asked to complete this element of the bid with an installer to ensure information is accurate and up to date.

QUESTIONS

Respondents are asked to consider these proposed amendments and respond to the following questions:

• In responding to this opportunity, is your company able to provide the breadth and level of detail required by WSCC?
• In relation to marketing and financial transparency, please specify what information your company would be able to provide?
• If you are unable to provide a particular piece of information, please specify why not.
• Would the requirement to provide this additional level of detail deter you from bidding for this contract?

Please be aware that the detailed cost information provided by bidders forms part of the quality evaluation only as it directly affects the delivery partner’s ability to provide a long-term, sustainable scheme for Sussex residents.

Please provide your response via email to [email protected] by 5pm on 14th November 2025.