New Projects
At Ovesco we are building on our experience with schools and other community-based organisations to support further renewable energy installations more widely across East Sussex.
These are: Sunny Solar schools and Solar Leisure Heating. For both projects the benefits are:
- Community owned solar installations (at no cost to the organisation)
- Lower-cost electricity or heat for the organisation
- Measurably lower carbon emissions, visible to all
- Involvement of pupils, parents and the community
- A financial return for community investors
- A basis for low carbon educational initiatives
The two projects will both be funded by community share offers which will be launched in Autumn 2017.
Contact us for more information if you would like to invest in either or both.
Ovesco Sunny Solar Schools
Ovesco has been developing community-owned renewable energy installations with schools for 10 years. We have worked with local schools including Priory School, Lewes; Ringmer Community College; Wallands School, Lewes and Chailey School. Our aim is to offer our experience and support more widely for the benefit of schools across Sussex.
The Sunny Solar Schools project aims to deliver over 750kW of clean electricity to up to twenty five schools in East Sussex. We will assess the suitability of each school involved for photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and the installation will be funded by a community share offer to local people. OVESCO will project manage the installation and operate the system once commissioned. The school will be offered electricity at a reduced price for 20 years, greatly helping its budget-planning.
This project is supported by Ashden’s LESS CO2 programme and the EU-funded Low Carbon Across the South East (LOCASE) project. OVESCO has set up an Advisory Support Group of educational experts to oversee its work.
We are currently doing feasibility studies for the Sunny Solar Schools project at 13 schools and hope to make the community share offer public in the Autumn of 2017.
If you are a school in East Sussex which is interested in participating, please contact us as soon as possible.
Ovesco Solar Leisure Heating
Ovesco is also proposing a new, ground-breaking project – the large-scale use of solar thermal heating for community leisure centres. The Solar Leisure Heating project will provide solar-heated hot water for three public swimming pools in Lewes, Ringmer and Seaford and for the Peacehaven and Downs leisure centres. These are owned by Lewes District Council and run by the not-for-profit Wave Leisure Trust. They will benefit from free hot water whenever the sun shines which will considerably reduce their utility bills.
As with the schools project, we are beginning with a technical and financial feasibility study for each centre and the solar thermal installations will be funded by a separate community share offer. Ovesco will commission and manage the project; and will operate the systems for the benefit of the leisure centres and the local community.
We are currently undertaking the feasibility studies and will launch the share offer in Autumn 2017 alongside the Sunny Solar Schools offer.
