Residents of Preston Park in Brighton are aiming to establish the UK’s first community-scale solar power programme.
The initiative is being led by former Green Councillor Elaine Hills, with the help of local community energy co-op BHESCo and Lewes based solar installer OneZero.
Residents were invited a launch event at Preston Park Cricket Club to hear more about the programme and why they should get involved.
Ms Hills told the near-capacity audience:
“We have an amazing opportunity to bring a community solar energy project to life.
I believe that this project and projects like it could actually revolutionise our energy provision.
That’s a lofty statement, but instead of handing our money to major energy companies, we’ll be part of a community-run clean energy service that will keep our energy costs lower and keep profits in the community.
While we have the backing of BHESCo, this is a community-led project, which means local people will be at the heart of it”.
Participants in the programme won’t pay anything for the solar panels to be installed; they will only pay for the electricity they use that has been generated by the panels.
Over the lifetime of the programme, each household is expected to save around £5,300.
Kayla Ente MBE, the founder and CEO of BHESCo, said:
We tried a similar project in Hove but we weren’t able to get enough participation.
I understand that this is a new concept and people are hesitant to enter into these new kinds of things. So, we have to keep talking about it, keep bringing the idea into new communities until we reach a breaking point, and I’m hoping that Preston Park will become that breaking point and we’re going to show the rest of the country what can be done when we work together”.
Howard Johns of OneZero said:
“By continuing to buy energy as we have been we’re giving thousands of pounds a year to companies that are doing stuff that we really don’t want to do anymore, like drilling for more oil and gas, shipping it across the ocean and funding despotic regimes around the world.
It’s amazing the amount of money we’re giving to these guys, but we can stop doing that if we build our own energy systems like this one”.
Last week, the energy regulator Ofgem announced a price increase of 6.7% from 1st April 2025, with another increase expected in July.
Community-led renewable energy projects like Preston Park Community Energy will bring down long-term energy costs, take advantage of new market innovations as they arise and help us reduce our carbon emissions.
The UK Government has set a target to decarbonise the entire electricity supply by 2030, and Brighton and Hove City Council aims to be a carbon neutral city by 2040.
More information on the Preston Park Community Energy programme is available at https://www.prestonparkcommunityenergy.org/.
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