Solar Canopy UPDATE
Following on from the feasibility study GUCE conducted last year looking at solar canopies on Three Rivers District Council’s car parks, GUCE has now been asked to continue the community engagement element of this project to gather people’s opinions on the project.
GUCE has already held three drop in sessions at William Penn Leisure Centre, South Oxhey Leisure Centre, and Three Rivers House from 15th October to 21st October and will hold three further presentations on the following dates:
South Oxhey Library Friday 7th November 9.45am-11.15am
Waterways Trust Education Centre, 99 Church Street, Rickmansworth WD3 1JD: Tuesday 11th November 7pm-8.30pm
Online Wednesday 12th November 7pm-8pm: Register here to attend.
Please do come along and here about journey of investigating if solar canopies are viable on any sites in Three Rivers!
How it began:
GUCE is delighted to have been awarded £40,000 from the Department for Energy and Net Zero’s Community Energy Fund (CEF) for a Stage 1 feasibility study to scope the viability of solar canopies on seven Three Rivers District Council car parks. The CEF is distributed and administered by the Greater South East Net Zero Hub. GUCE is working in partnership with Three Rivers District Council (TRDC) to complete this study.
The project
This Stage 1 study will look into the potential benefits and constraints of generating solar-powered electricity via solar canopies to supply local energy users and their potential to provide valuable community benefits, energy bill savings, and carbon emission reductions. Seven car parks have been identified by TRDC as archetypes of car parks across the district and will allow GUCE to test both if solar canopies are an option and if so what are the “must haves” in terms of site selection to make them viable.
The study will produce initial designs, identify challenges, and recommend outcomes plus generate a framework tool that can be used to assess the viability of car parks across Three Rivers.
Solar PV panels are a proven technology and car park solar is already being used across Europe to increase renewable energy supplies for energy-intensive end-users like supermarkets. Taking this established model and applying it to car parks, that will create a second use for the land, and assessing the viability of funding, via a community energy model, will provide an innovative option for generating cheaper electricity for the community.
What is a community energy model?
A community energy model can be used to raise the funds for community energy projects which in benefits local businesses and residents cheaper renewable energy, but also enabling the community to invest in local energy. Shares are offered for a specific project with those investors becoming members (in this case of GUCE) and having a say on the assets via annual general meetings. The funds raised via shares pay for the construction and maintenance of the energy infrastructure, i.e. solar canopies, and investors receive back over the project lifecycle their initial investment plus annual dividends.
Solar Car Park benefits to the community:
- End Users – these could be businesses or the community or EV charging points
- “Clean” sustainable energy supply
- Bill security
- Locally produced energy
- Car Park Users
- Shading for vehicles (heat from sun in summer, from rain in winter)
- Potential that the covered space that could be leveraged for other uses (market days?)
- Investors
- Opportunity to buy shares to fund the solar canopies
- Potential reward of around 3% interest a year
- Community
- % of funds generated allocated to GUCEs Community Fund for projects which help improve local community resilience in the face of increasing energy costs and climate change.
How can I get involved?
Join Grand Union Community Energy (GUCE) to hear about how you and your community could benefit from locally produced, sustainable solar energy from canopies on car parks in Three Rivers, at the following free events. Check our social media for dates and venues!