Community Energy Birmingham is a “society for the benefit of the community”, which has put up three solar roofs and is ready to put up three more. The buildings get cheap fixed price electricity, to help sustain their services in a time of spending cuts. Community Energy Birmingham (CEB) are about to launch another share offer to fund these future projects.
Ackers Adventure is one partner, a charity that provides outdoor activities for young people on their site in Sparkbrook. CEB’s panels on the office building mean that it has half of its electricity from the sun, and has halved the carbon emissions. Ackers Residential Centre has a diverter, which takes excess solar power into the hot water tank, for everyone to enjoy a shower after a day of activity. This means almost all the power is used in the building. Later in 2015, the Ski Centre will get a new roof, giving the opportunity to add 10kW of panels to that building.
At the Moseley Exchange, the many groups that use that building are enjoying electricity from CEB panels on the rear roof, but another 10kW on the main roof could make the building more self-sufficient. Altogether, CEB will produce up to 65kW of solar energy. CEB is in discussion with other community buildings to identify future projects.
Local people are invited to invest and to receive a return on their savings from the income that is generated. CEB’s Share Offer opened with a Launch Event at Moseley Exchange on 2nd July. More details can be found on CEB’s website:
