Brighton Energy Coop’s latest fundraiser has just hit the £300k mark – and counting!
Over 70 people have bought shares in BEC in the last six weeks or so, helping us build more community-owned renewable energy in the south.
This amazing effort is thanks to our fantastic supporters – thank you so much to everyone who has invested in our latest round.
You can join them here. We are projecting a 5% interest on shares, and 2% of the revenue that we generate goes towards our community fund supporting energy education in our local schools.
The money we are raising for solar is going to put panels on the roofs of our latest partner – Rathfinny Wine Estate. Rathfinny are a community-minded bunch, and are in the process of certifying their wine operation as a B-Corp, a 3rd party validation of social and environmental credentials.
We aim to build a 578kWp solar system on the grape-processing buildings at Rathfinny, BEC’s largest solar system to date. Planning permission, grid approval and a lease are in place and the solar panels are onsite; scaffolding goes up at the end of the month and our installation team will be on the roof the week after.
In other news, we recently helped fund several new solar arrays at local businesses, as part of our Community Solar Accelerator grant scheme. Bird and Blend Tea and Electronic Temperature Instruments received grants of £18k and £21k respectively for brand new solar systems on their roofs. At a time of spiraling energy prices it feels great to be able to support our local businesses in this way.
Once again, thanks to those of you who have bought shares recently, you can join Brighton Energy Coop here.
Will, Brighton Energy Coop
