Our story
A small group of people with a shared interest in climate change mitigation realised that collectively we had enough of the skill mix to initiate a solar project in our spare time. We established a financial model for installing solar, then we secured seed funding from our local authority to develop the required governance and legal framework. Running our first successful share offer was a momentous event which proved our capability and was the beginning of our track record for local solar in the context of government subsidy. Since subsequent share offers, our portfolio covers 7 sites, £450k of investment and over 100 members. Beneficiaries are the community site owners who benefit from lower cost energy, the adults and children who use those sites and our co-op of >100 investors.
Our advice
Voluntary groups with little funds are slow to progress - avoid deadlines e.g. FiT
Projects have greater certainty when you involve committed experts.
If a co-op has multiple projects, lump share offer % returns together (it's more ethical).
Try to repeat your successes, rather than experimenting with new projects each time.
Our metrics
Tonnes of carbon emissions reduced.
Number of sites with solar installations.
Community support with funding and new projects.
