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Council solar in Halton

Q: Does Halton Borough Council have its own solar farm?

Yes. The St Michael's solar farm in Widnes, on former derelict land that was part of the St Michael's golf course site, opened in 2020. It has more than 3,000 panels, was reported as a 1 MW site making around 850,000 kWh a year, and supplies the stadium nearby.

Q: Does the council fit solar panels on homes?

Not directly. Through the Warm Homes: Local Grant, which Halton runs with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, solar panels can be among the improvements for eligible households.

Widnes has a long record of putting difficult land to new uses. Two of Halton Borough Council's solar schemes sit on just such ground in the town: a solar farm on old derelict land beside a golf course, and a planned larger one on a closed landfill site at Ditton.

Sources checked on 3 November 2026. Written by SEO Dons, which sells and fits nothing.

St Michael's solar farm

In October 2020 the trade title Solar Power Portal reported that Halton Borough Council had opened a 1 MW solar farm on former derelict brownfield land in Widnes, part of the St Michael's golf course site. More than 3,000 panels were expected to make around 850,000 kWh a year, supplying the DCBL Stadium, at a cost of about £1.2 million. In a later tender notice the council describes it as a 1.2 MWp solar farm, alongside a number of rooftop schemes on its own buildings.

For scale: 850,000 kWh is roughly what 189 home systems the size of eleven 440 W panels would make in a year in Widnes.

The Halton Microgrid at Ditton

The council's notice on the government's Find a Tender service, last updated in February 2026, describes a new 3.62 MWp solar farm on a closed landfill site immediately north of Ditton Road in Widnes, with battery storage of 2 MW and 4 MWh, electric vehicle charging and high-voltage distribution. Planning permission was granted on 23 January 2025, and the council's grid connection offer came from SP Energy Networks in June 2021. We could not find whether a contract had been awarded or building had begun.

The council's targets

Halton Borough Council declared a climate emergency on 16 October 2019 and set a net zero carbon target of 2040, focused on its own operations. Across the borough, DESNZ counted 2,733 solar installations of all kinds by the end of 2025, 13.59 MW in total.

For scale, the St Michael's farm, at about 1 MW, is roughly a fourteenth of the 13.59 MW of solar DESNZ counted across Halton by the end of 2025, and the planned Ditton Road farm would add 3.62 MWp more. Rooftops make up much of the rest: in the Widnes and Halewood constituency alone, DESNZ counted 7.577 MW of domestic solar by September 2026, though that figure takes in Halewood as well.

Where homes come in

Grants. The council runs the Warm Homes: Local Grant with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Halton's page lists solar panels among the measures for eligible households in homes rated D to G. See grants and loans.
Group buying. Halton has taken part in the city region's Solar Together scheme; in the 2022 round, the region's growth platform reported 91 Halton households having panels fitted.
The network. The council's farms and your roof connect to the same SP Energy Networks system. Its capacity is managed street by street, which is why larger home systems are checked before they connect.

A word of caution

If someone at the door or on the phone says they are calling about solar on the council's behalf, ask for it in writing and check with Halton Borough Council directly before agreeing to anything.

Sources for this page

Questions about council solar

Does Halton Borough Council have its own solar farm?

Yes. The St Michael's solar farm in Widnes, on former derelict land that was part of the St Michael's golf course site, opened in 2020. It has more than 3,000 panels, was reported as a 1 MW site making around 850,000 kWh a year, and supplies the stadium nearby.

What is the Halton Microgrid?

A council project for a 3.62 MWp solar farm on a closed landfill site just north of Ditton Road in Widnes, with 2 MW / 4 MWh of battery storage. Planning permission was granted on 23 January 2025; we could not confirm whether a contract had been awarded by November 2026.

Does the council fit solar panels on homes?

Not directly. Through the Warm Homes: Local Grant, which Halton runs with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, solar panels can be among the improvements for eligible households.

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