We are delighted to announce that our application to the Urban Community Energy Fund has been successful! We’ve just received the first instalment of a total grant of £18,320 and we’re getting going on delivering the work. This will involve, amongst other things, commissioning mapping experts BlueSky to do a desktop survey of every roof in Exeter with enough space for 30kWp of solar PV, paying for our time contacting roof owners and developing relationships, paying for expert technical advice at potential sites, legal services to secure agreements with roof owners, running events, producing a range of printed marketing materials, making a short promo film about our project… and more. We are experienced at making money go a long way!
In terms of progress towards our goal, this is great news. In the meantime, we have continued to do everything we can to keep balls rolling. Our roof subgroup – a working group of ECOE Directors and volunteers – meets regularly to discuss strategy and report on progress achieved in between meetings. If you’re up for getting involved in this see below.
Things are still progressing well with Wonford Community Centre and Clyst Village Hall, and we have a range of potential larger roofs in the pipeline, including at Exeter College, South West Ambulance Service, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue and others. We were talking to Hospiscare about their roofs but they have decided to progress a PV project using their own finance – they are an amazing local charity and we wish them well with their project.
