Official UK procurement notice
UPN-00417 - Residential Solar Collective Buying Scheme
Authority: West of England Combined Authority (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionIn order to support our Growth Strategy priorities of increasing clean, renewable energy and decarbonising homes across the region by 2035, the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) is exploring facilitation of a Collective Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Purchasing Scheme for local authorities within our region.
The aim of this early market engagement exercise is to determine whether there is a market to help residents, SME buildings, community venues and places of worship purchase "Supply and Fit" PV arrays, battery storage, and electric vehicle (EV) chargers at an affordable price from accredited installers. The contractor will handle customer service, vet installers and provide regional capacity for rollout of solar PV, plus provide relevant project data to WECA.
The contractor will deliver a collective purchasing Scheme for the supply and installation of photovoltaic panel (PV) systems for householders to enable them to take advantage of discounted panels via collective purchasing, with options for battery storage and electric vehicle charging. The Contractor will set up an online platform to facilitate the collective purchasing scheme by allowing 3rd party suppliers to bid for work for which householders have registered interest. Supply and installation contracts shall be between the Contractor and the Household/establishment. The Contractor will pay the Authorities a commission for every successful installation completed. The supplier will deliver and install at least 500 domestic solar systems across the West of England by 31 September 2027.
The supplier will be expected to work with the Combined Authority to maximise customer access to the scheme and delivers Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) outputs.
The planned contract start date is 15th January 2027. This contract is categorised as a below threshold concessions contract as the Authorities are not able to commit or guarantee any orders.
This Preliminary Market Engagement Notice is not a call for competition. Responses will inform our procurement strategy, which may or may not include a future competitive tender process. Suppliers may be invited to participate in further engagement activities, including demonstrations or clarification sessions.
Please complete the questionnaire: forms.cloud.microsoft/e/mvcm7QZkkw ↗
CPV: Batteries · Chargers · Energy and related services · Heating works · Insulation work · Inverters · Marketing services · Solar energy
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How West of England Combined Authority buys Solar energy (CPV 0933), and who usually turns up
West of England Combined Authority’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Solar energy (CPV 0933) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in South West England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 19 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid4%
2–321%
4–614%
7+61%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate20% / 52%
Within ±2%60% / 24%
Above estimate20% / 24%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 4523Published estimate£90k
This lot is listed as CPV 4523. The table above uses the notice category.
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 24 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid17%
2–338%
4–625%
7+21%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Concession
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 30 Apr 2026, 17:21 BST
- Last source update
- 25 Sept 2026, 13:05 BST
- Authority reference
UPN-00417- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-090984- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-068fc8Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
30 Apr 2026 → 15 Jan 2027 · 5 dates- Planning notice published179 days ago30 Apr 2026, 17:21 BST
- Latest notice published31 days ago25 Sept 2026, 13:05 BST
- Tender notice expected26 days ago30 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
- Market engagement26 days ago30 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
If this sounds like an opportunity your organisation may be interested in, please complete the short questionnaire below:
- Today26 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 80 days15 Jan 2027
Notice history
7 events · 6 releases on Find a Tender · since 30 Apr 2026- Pipeline notice published30 Apr 2026, 17:21 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published30 Apr 2026, 17:28 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published18 Sept 2026, 12:29 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published18 Sept 2026, 14:30 BSTUK2
- Published value updated to £90,00018 Sept 2026, 14:30 BSTwas £20,000,000
- Preliminary market engagement notice published25 Sept 2026, 12:52 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published25 Sept 2026, 13:05 BSTUK2
Published amendments (3)
Updated MS Forms link and update to change dates
Extension to Market Engagement Questionnaire submission deadline
Amended notice timeline
Routine re-releases (6)
- 2026-09: 1 release · 18 Sept 2026
- 2026-04: 2 releases · 30 Apr 2026, 30 Apr 2026
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (6)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender