Dorking Solar Group is teaming up with Energy4All (E4A) to provide community financed solar to schools. E4A is a professionaly managed cooperative which supports community energy share schemes with a strong track record of success. E4A has supported numerous cooperatives, including the Schools Energy Cooperative (SEC) to which it has provided £1.2m to 32 schools for a total installed capacity of 1.2MWp since 2014! And it does not stop there, as SEC and other cooperatives under the E4A umbrella such as Wey Valley Solar and Repower Balcombe are still looking to install panels on schools before the government terminates the subsidies in April 2019.
The panels provide long term fixed electricity rates to the school which are lower than current rates. In addition, the pupils benefit from the educational aspect of the technology while reducing the school's CO2 emissions. All this at no cost to the school. Local investors receive a reasonable return and the profits remain local (as opposed to unconcerned foreign shareholders). Dorking Solar Group is supporting the initiative by sourcing interested schools and informing the community of any local share offers.
If any one reading this knows of any potentially interested schools or you would like to invest in a community scheme (Amounts as low as £100), please do get in touch. We look forward to getting a project off the ground by the holiday term this summer. Remember that DSG is a non profit society, operated by volunteers. Any assistance you can provide will always be much appreciated. We look forward to hearing from you soon!
For more information on community energy projects visit the following links:
24 Feb 2018
