The last Saturday in January was bright and sunny in Milton-under-Wychwood – ideal conditions for the first day of operation of 16 newly installed solar panels on the village hall roof.
It all went smoothly. By the end of the afternoon, the battery that stores electricity generated by the panels for use later was fully charged and the system had switched to supplying power to the national grid for which the hall gets paid.
Sustainable Charlbury contributed £2,000 towards the cost of the installation.
‘It’s been quite an adventure, a big project for a small group of volunteers’, said Joanna van de Poll, secretary of the nine-member village hall management committee.
The story of how they raised the funds and came to grips with complex technology will be of interest to other small community groups considering similar projects.
Rising energy bills
The decision to put in solar panels was partly driven by wanting to do the right thing for the environment and partly by concern about rising energy bills.
Impetus for action accelerated after three new members joined the village hall management committee in early 2024, younger and more tech-savvy than those they replaced. One of them, who works in IT, volunteered to lead on the technical aspects. Joanna took charge of fund raising.
A particular concern was finding a reliable contractor to do the installation. Potential suppliers all described their products and services in different ways, making it difficult to make comparisons and decide which was offering the best deal. Many of them had all the work they could handle with other contracts. Some simply refused to quote for a village hall project.
Contractor with local links
In the end, a Gloucester-based company called Immersa was chosen. One of their directors lives locally, which meant there would be someone close at hand to contact if there was a problem. It was also felt that a contractor with connections to the community would have a greater sense of obligation to do a good job.
The final decision to go ahead with the project was taken last autumn. There was a slight panic over finding a roofing contractor to replace some cracked tiles and rotten wooden batons, revealed by cleaning moss off the roof, which had to be done before the panels went up. They were all busy in the wake of the pre-Christmas storms.
But eventually the problem was solved, and installation of the solar system went ahead on schedule in January. It took less than a week and caused little disruption, apart from some hammering coming from the roof during a yoga class!
Battery for storing power
Most of the village hall’s power consumption takes place in the evening – for events that require lighting, the sound system and running the dishwasher – whereas the solar panels generate electricity in the day during the hours of sunlight. To address this issue, a 10.1 kWh battery has been installed -located outside the hall as there wasn’t enough room inside – which stores power for use when required.
It will be several months before the numbers are clear on the amount of electricity generated by the solar panels and how much of a surplus goes to the grid, earning revenue. But there is an expectation that the village hall will turn out to be broadly self-sufficient in power – likely reducing energy bills by between £1,000 and £1,500 a year, about 10 percent of the hall’s overall running costs.  The next challenge will be replacing the ancient gas boiler used for heating.
Funding from SusCha and others
Most of the £13-14,000 bill for installing the solar system has been covered by grants raised from external sources, with around £2,000 coming from the hall’s own reserves. The external funders included Milton-under-Wychwood Parish Council, WeSET (the charity arm of Westmill Solar) and Sustainable Charlbury. SSEN, the regional power distribution company, has also provided a grant.Â
Sustainable Charlbury’s £2,000 contribution to the project was clearly appreciated:
‘It was the first grant we received and as such it was a massive boost to be able to say we had some money…. it gave us confidence ….it is a life saver for small organisations to know there is money available ……it would have taken forever to raise the funds from our own resources.’
Joanna van de Poll, secretary, Milton-under-Wychwood Village Hall
