The Guide to Community Solar on Council Assets

In this video, Kirsty Shanahan from Community Energy Pathways asks Dr Rachel Coxcoon from Climate Guide – the author of this guidance – the following questions:

• What should people do next after they’ve seen this video or they’ve received the resources?
• What do these resources do to accelerate community energy for a councillor or officer?
• Why have you taken this approach with these resources?

Funded by the Greater South East Net Zero Hub, Community Energy Pathways has been working with Dr Rachel Coxcoon from Climate Guide on a The Guide to Community Solar on Council Assets.

This webinar and the Guide also aim to shine a light for community energy group members on how local government works, and explain how to work the system more efficiently to create mutually beneficial working partnerships in time to capitalise on GB Energy funding.

Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, explains how the council works with communities and community energy organisations to deliver local renewable energy.

• Why local ownership and engagement build public support for energy projects
• How councils can help community energy organisations overcome one of their biggest barriers: finding suitable sites
• Benefits beyond generation, including retrofit and other environmental projects
• Upcoming GB Energy funding that will only be open to community energy organisations working with local authorities
• The council’s new schools community energy programme, bringing more solar to schools and cutting their energy bills

Community energy projects are most likely to succeed where community energy organisations and their local authorities work together. This short film introduces a new set of resources The Guide to Community Solar on Council Assets, designed to make those partnerships easier to build.

Councils are naturally risk averse. The toolkit is designed to help them overcome that caution: identifying where decision-making power sits, embedding community energy properly in council strategy, and carrying out the due diligence needed to show everything is above board. From there, councils can build a workable relationship with a community energy organisation.

The toolkit includes editable templates that council officers can use with confidence, including to strengthen their business cases.

This Energy Learning Network webinar showcases the ‘Community Solar on Council Assets’ toolkit, developed by Climate Guide, Community Energy Pathways, UK100 and Community Energy England, and funded by the Greater South East Net Zero Hub.

Funded by the Greater South East Net Zero Hub, Community Energy Pathways has been working with Dr Rachel Coxcoon from Climate Guide on a The Guide to Community Solar on Council Assets.

Official launch webinar on June 30th 2026 of The Guide to Community Solar on Council Assets: Overcoming barriers to local authority and community energy partnerships

• Dr Rachel Coxcoon from Climate Guide on a The Guide to Community Solar on Council Assets