Renewable Energy – Solar Panels and Battery Storage

Village Hall.

The overall aim of the project is to make the village hall as energy efficient as possible. Six steps have already been taken, which are detailed in the accompanying documentation. This particular part of the overall project is the installation of solar panels and associated battery storage, for both environmental (reducing the carbon footprint) and economic (aiming for energy self-sufficiency thereby reducing or eliminating expenditure) reasons.

In 1995 a project was initiated to convert the semi-derelict 19th century former village school into a village hall. Since that date the village has lost its shop, post office and public house, so the village hall has become the only secular building in the village where local residents can meet outside their own homes. Over the years the Management Committee and local volunteers have worked tirelessly to develop and maintain a community building fit for the 21st century, with energy efficiency at the forefront.

This project is driven by the fact that the building is wholly reliant on electricity for its source of power as there is no mains gas supply in the area. The reduced or eliminated energy costs associated with renewable energy will enable the Management Committee to keep hire charges at the lowest level possible, whilst maintaining financial prudence, in order to retain current users, both regular and ‘one-off’, and to extend the user base. It will also demonstrate that the Village Hall Management Committee takes sustainability seriously.