I’ve been thinking about the idea of resilience quite a lot recently. On the ‘macro’ scale, initiating a community-owned renewable energy project is inspired by the need for us to become more resilient in the face of climate change and peak oil. Clearly installing...

While the FIT review is targeted at large scale installations, the reclassification of solar projects over 50kW as ‘large scale’ threatens community schemes too. The question for government, therefore, is at what scale can community energy projects succeed? This post...

Whilst the Feed In Tariff (FIT) review has prompted huge disappointment across the solar industry in the UK, FIT regimes across the continent have been unstable for a couple of years. So what causes governments to wobble on FITs? Too many projects Fundamentally, the...

Hi Everyone, Last month I mentioned we'd have some big news and here it is: Jeremy Leggett has joined the advisory board of Brighton Energy Co-op. This is a major step forward for us - Jeremy is probably the biggest figure in British solar. As well as being CEO of...

Twitter is ablaze with talk of the protests planned by some Saudi citizens next Friday. Saudi troops are already being deployed around the Kingdom. Before there was any sense that contagion might spread even to Saudi Arabia, some analysts were warning of $220 oil...

DECC launched a clever little simulation today that lets you decide how to move to a low carbon economy, how it looks - and whether it works or not. See the website here (http://my2050.decc.gov.uk/)

Leading community wind developers Energy4All got a green light today as planning for the Torrance Farm Community Wind Co-op was approved. Turbines will be 100% community-owned through a new Co-op. More details to follow shortly, website here

Stockport Hydro have recently raised £450K for a community energy scheme - approaching their target of £550K. It's a great example of large-scale community schemes in action. Anyone wanting to support the the scheme can register their interest at www.h2ope.co.uk and...

Hi everyone, Exciting times at Brighton Energy Co-op! After raising start-up cash through January, we are now in discussion with six different sites for our panels - including a couple of schools, a hospital, a new sports facility as well as several others. We will...

Brighton Energy Co-op cited as example of why FITs for large-scale is a good idea - our first mention in the national press. - The Guardian

Govt claims FITs diverted to large-scale solar panel installations - The Guardian

A north Worcestershire company has secured a £1.2m contract to install what they say is the UK's biggest roof-top solar power plant - BBC News

By BEC Project Director, Damian Tow I thought that it might be useful to provide a bit of background of how we got to setting up Brighton Energy Co-op, and what motivates us to want to create a community-owned renewable energy project in Brighton. I say us but...