Battle Solar Town

MEETINGS & EVENTS

Clean green, sustainable electricity
At least 25% of the energy used in Battle^* is generated in Battle
Funded (in part) and owned by local investors via a community energy scheme
Run by local people for local people
Saving money for the people of Battle
With profits going into a Battle community fund which will benefit Battle people

* the civil parish of Battle, which includes Battle town, Telham and Netherfield

Community buildings
Blocks of flats
Whole streets of houses
Individual homes
Shops
Businesses

All connected up with one or more micro-grids

Solar panels on community buildings, blocks of flats, streets of houses, and individual homes will be connected to a microgrid.
Buildings connected to a micro-grid will get some free electricity, and significantly cheaper tariffs for any electricity they need to buy.
Buildings will be paid for any surplus electricity supplied to a micro-grid.
Local micro-grids, owned by Battle Solar Town, will distribute surplus energy to other homes in the town.

We have already commissioned two feasibility studies:
- (1) Solar on blocks of flats in Battle. We have identified a dozen different blocks which could be suitable for solar.
- (2) Solar on community buildings in battle. We have a list of 15 buildings, including schools, halls, churches, care homes, and more which could be suitable for solar.
The feasibility studies will cover all the technical aspects: how much energy could be generated? what’s the best way to connect it to a micro-grid?
The feasibility studies will cover all the financial aspects: how much would it cost? what funding sources are available? how much will we need to raise from public loans or community shares?
In the pipeline, we have several more feasibility studies: one focused on individual homes with solar; one focused on streets of hard-to-heat homes in the Battle conservation area; one focused on the high-street; and one on car-parks.

Profits from the scheme (after covering maintenance, modest admin costs and investor dividends) will go into a Battle Community Fund.
We estimate this fund could be around £50,000 per year, depending on global energy prices and the number of buildings participating.
The Community Fund will be administered by a group of local trustees.
We envisage the money would be spent on energy-saving improvements to individual buildings and on facilities for the whole town.

Battle Solar Town is a community group, founded in 2024, and intending to register with BLAP (Battle Local Action Plan).
Set up by local resident volunteers Richard Watson and Nicky Bishop.
We have been joined by a number of other residents eager to make the scheme a success and happy to contribute their skills.
Battle Solar Town always welcomes new people to the team.
We aim to become a community energy co-operative.

A commercial business
Getting paid to do this
Looking to make money for ourselves. Net profits will go into a Community Benefit Fund
Financially or legally connected with a power generation or distribution company
Financially or legally connected with a solar panel manufacturer, supplier or installer

We are still a small team of volunteers, and most of us have day-jobs.
We will be delighted to welcome others who share our vision for a town which generates over 25% of its own energy, where everyone can save money, and the town is better off.
We welcome all skill-sets including: engineering, electrical, financial, marketing, social media, leaflet delivery, talking to people, organising and taking notes of meetings, tea-making, etc.
If you’re interested, please email: battlesolartown@gmail.com and we will meet up for a chat.

Thank you for visiting our website.
There is much more information we could share if you would like to know more.
Here you can download the slides from the presentation we made at the Almonry on 7th June 2024.
If you have a question or would like a conversation, please contact: battlesolartown@gmail.com
Let us know if you would like to host a solar open-home event for friends and neighbours, we can help to organise it.

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