- UPOWA has secured a three-year contract with Winchester City Council to deliver solar PV and battery storage across up to 500 occupied council homes per year, representing a potential programme of up to 1,500 homes.
- The programme will help residents generate and store renewable energy, manage household electricity costs and support improvements to the energy performance and EPC ratings of Winchester’s council housing stock.
- Building on the successful Phase 1 programme, UPOWA will provide end-to-end solar and battery delivery across a diverse range of occupied homes and multi-occupancy buildings.
Following the successful delivery of Phase 1, UPOWA has secured a three-year contract with Winchester City Council to deliver solar PV and battery storage across up to 500 occupied council homes per year, representing a potential programme of up to 1,500 homes.
Secured through competitive tender via the LHC Decarbonisation Framework, the contract covers end-to-end solar PV and battery storage delivery across a diverse range of existing housing stock, including bungalows, terraced and detached homes and multi-occupancy buildings.
Funded through Winchester City Council’s own capital investment in decarbonisation, the programme forms part of the Council’s wider strategy to improve the energy performance of its housing stock, reduce carbon emissions and help residents manage household energy costs.
Programme at a glance
Client: Winchester City Council
Programme: Wave 3
Duration: Three years
Scale: Up to 500 occupied homes per year
Property types: Bungalows, terraced and detached homes and multi-occupancy buildings
Technology: Solar PV and battery storage
Procurement: Competitive tender via LHC Decarbonisation Framework
Role: Principal Contractor
Delivery: End-to-end survey, design, installation, commissioning, certification, handover and resident liaison
Funding: Winchester City Council capital investment
Improving energy performance and supporting residents
For residents, the solar PV and battery storage upgrades are designed to deliver practical benefits alongside wider improvements to Winchester City Council’s housing stock.
Solar PV will enable residents to generate clean renewable electricity at home, while battery storage allows surplus solar generation to be stored and used when it’s needed. This can help households make greater use of renewable energy, reduce reliance on grid electricity and manage household energy costs.
For the Council, the programme will support wider objectives to improve the energy performance of existing homes, contribute to improvements in EPC ratings and reduce carbon emissions across its housing stock.
Building on successful Phase 1 delivery
The new three-year contract builds on UPOWA’s successful delivery of Phase 1, which saw solar PV and battery storage installed across 35 occupied council homes in the Winchester district.
Phase 1 demonstrated UPOWA’s ability to manage the complexities of renewable energy retrofit within occupied housing, from property assessment and system design through to installation, commissioning, certification and resident handover.
The move to a significantly larger programme reflects Winchester City Council’s continued confidence in UPOWA’s delivery capability and provides an opportunity to apply the same resident-focused approach across a broader range of property types.
The mix of single-occupancy and multi-occupancy properties demonstrates the flexibility of UPOWA’s delivery model, with system design and installation approaches adapted to the characteristics of different homes and buildings.
Preshanta Burbidge, Retrofit Manager, Winchester City Council said:
“Winchester City Council’s solar and battery programme is an important part of our work to decarbonise council housing, improve the energy performance of our homes and support progress towards EPC C.
By generating and storing clean energy, the programme contributes to reducing customer’s energy bills, providing greater protection from changes in energy prices and contributes to tackling fuel poverty.
Following the successful delivery of Phase 1 with our delivery partners UPOWA, scaling up the programme is the logical next step: it will extend these benefits to more residents and deliver a greater overall impact across Winchester City Council’s housing stock. We look forward to Phase 2 with UPOWA.”
Paul Terry, Managing Director, UPOWA added:
“We’re incredibly proud to build on the successful delivery of Phase 1 and continue our partnership with Winchester City Council through this significantly larger programme.
Moving from an initial 35-home programme to a potential 1,500 homes over three years is a significant milestone for UPOWA and reflects the strength of our specialist solar and battery capability, our local team and our approach to working in occupied homes.
We look forward to continuing to support the Council in improving housing energy performance and delivering meaningful benefits for residents.”
Supporting large-scale social housing decarbonisation
This contract award further establishes UPOWA as a specialist solar PV and battery storage delivery partner for social housing, supporting local authorities, housing associations and retrofit delivery partners to decarbonise existing housing stock at scale.
With more than 18 years’ renewable energy experience and over 40,000 solar PV installations delivered across the UK, UPOWA provides an end-to-end delivery model covering property surveys, system design, installation, commissioning, certification, handover, resident support and ongoing asset maintenance to help ensure long-term system performance.
The company combines specialist solar and battery expertise with regional delivery teams, robust quality and health and safety processes, and the operational capability to deliver renewable energy programmes at scale.