A town councillor has done it; the local MP has signed up for it; and the population are electric with excitement at the prospect! Southam, a rather ordinary town in Warwickshire, is heading for superstar status if it manages to pull off its quest to become the first predominantly solar-powered urban enclave in Britain.
“There is no reason that rooftops across the whole of Britain could not be used as batteries to power all our towns and cities with renewable energy,” says Lee Summers, director of EOS Energy, the company based in Southam that is out to install Photovoltaic (PV) panels on every appropriate building in the town and surrounds.
The best thing about the project is that EOS recently secured £20-million funding which is enabling it to provide PV installations without charge, and lets the householder enjoy free electricity (thanks to the Government’s Feed In Tariff scheme).
“With the whole town wired up to solar power, the residents are set to collectively save around £30-million a year on electricity bills,” says Mr Summers.
EOS is actively recruiting and training more staff to cope with demand, and has already fitted PV panels on numerous roof-tops in the town and local area.
One of the first customers was Deputy Mayor, Dave Wise, who also owns the Coffee Cup Cafe in Market Hill contacted EOS to install his rooftop “array” back in February, before the funding was available for a free system. He paid for his domestic installation, and feels it was worth every penny, saving him hundreds of pounds in the coming years. “Saving money and reducing my carbon output – it’s a no-brainer!” After going solar, Councillor Wise set a trend – interest in his rooftop array was “phenomenal”. “People are always calling in my cafe and asking to come and see the system on my roof, and I’m very happy to show it off,” he says.
Summers says there are around 21,000 homes and commercial buildings in Southam and its dormitory villages, which could generate a massive amount of solar power. Not all the roof-tops are necessarily suitable for PV installations, but it is also possible to place them on the ground in appropriate locations.
“At present the UK is lagging behind other European countries such as Spain, Germany and Belgium in its commitment to creating electricity this way. We intend to play our part in changing that.
“We can convert Southam, and then we foresee that other UK towns and cities will follow. We firmly believe that the dream of a solar-powered UK can become a reality,” concluded Mr Summers.
For more information visit www.eosenergy.co.uk.