MORE Londoners will be able to afford solar panels on their homes, thanks to a new group-buying scheme from the Mayor of London and Ealing Council.

Interested householders and small businesses can now register with the Solar Together London scheme, which will buy and instal high-quality solar panels in bulk, reducing costs for customers.

The first phase of the scheme begins this month, focused on five London boroughs, Brent, Ealing, Kingston, Merton and Sutton. Similar schemes have operated in Norfolk, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

The scheme is part of Sadiq Khan’s Energy for Londoners programme which aims to cut energy bills and supply the capital’s homes and workplaces with more clean energy, helping to make London a zero-carbon city by 2050.

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The Mayor is also awarding £150,000 of his London Community Energy Fund to 13 solar energy projects across eight boroughs, including solar panels on schools, churches, sports centres, and even a city farm.

One group, Ealing Transition, was awarded £15,000 to look at the feasibility of installing solar panels on five Ealing schools. The group aims to cut bills for the schools, which have a total of 6,000 pupils.

Sadiq Khan said: “London has a wealth of buildings that can harness solar energy, but we're simply not making enough of them. Generating clean, local electricity can help cut bills, and bulk buying will make solar panels more affordable. “

Cllr Julian Bell, leader of Ealing Council, said: “We want Ealing to remain one of the greenest boroughs in London and increasing the generation of clean energy is a vital step on that journey.”