The UK’s largest community rooftop solar project

Only two days are left to apply for the Energise Barnsley solar bond offer, which aims to raise £1.2m to help finance new solar panels in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

The money raised will be put towards the installation of the UK’s largest community rooftop solar project: up to 2MW of rooftop solar panels for residential homes, schools, sheltered housing accommodation and other community buildings in the town.

The new rooftop panels will be designed and installed by Centrica’s solar team, which has already installed around 1MW of solar panels on 321 homes in Barnsley in the past six months.

Chris Morrison, Director of UK and Ireland Distributed Energy, said: “We’re seeing increasing interest from businesses and the public sector in localised energy generation. Projects like Energise Barnsley are a significant part of this movement and deserve backing from communities and investors.

“Having successfully installed the first wave of solar panels in Barnsley, we look forward to raising the prominence of solar in the town further with this new bond, supporting local residents to reduce their bills and invest in projects that matter to them.”

The bond is being offered by Energise Barnsley, the largest joint local authority and community energy project in the UK, with support from Centrica and Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.

Revenue from the new solar panels will flow back into a community energy fund to support local social enterprises and educational services targeting fuel poverty. The fund will amount to £20,000 in the first year, and is now open for applications from community groups.

The share offer is open to all members of the public through the Ethex exchange https://www.ethex.org.uk/EB. The deadline for applications is Wednesday 10th August.

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