Village hall goes for green power (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Village hall goes for green power

11:00am Friday 27th January 2012 in Local By Emily Roberts

Village hall goes for green power

SOLAR panels could be installed on the roof of a village hall in a Basingstoke suburb.

Brookvale Community Association has submitted an application to the borough council, asking for permission to install 40 panels on Brookvale Village Hall, in Lower Brook Street.

The application says the panels, which would cover 65 square metres, would secure “future revenues, to reduce the running costs of the hall and to demonstrate the value of renewable energy.”

The hall was built in 1983 and was extended in 1987 before being renovated in 1999.

It is leased from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and is managed by Brookvale Community Association (BCA), which is a registered charity.

The application says the hall has a south-facing roof, which is ideal for solar panels. It adds that the solar panels are estimated to generate 9,400kwh of electricity per year and reduce carbon emissions by five tons annually, helping the association to reach its target of making the hall carbon neutral.

However, the community association could be affected by the Government proposals to reduce Feed-in-Tariffs (FITs) for new solar photovoltaic (PV) installations, which is currently under consultation. Anyone installing panels after December 12, 2011, could be affected.

FITs is the money paid for the electricity generated through the solar panels. The Government previously said that the FITs will remain unchanged until April 2012, with a rate of 43.3p/kwh.

But because of a rapid rise in solar PV installations, a rapid decrease in solar PV costs and the need to provide value for money, the Government decided to hold a fast track review on the matter and said a reduced rate of 21p/kwh would be offered instead from April 1, 2012, which would affect installations with an eligibility date on or after December 12, 2011.

The Government’s position has been challenged by solar power firms, which argue that this was unfair because the decision came two weeks before the end of an official consultation.

The High Court agreed but the Government is now challenging this, the result of which will be revealed in a few weeks. If the Government wins, then the December 12, 2011, cut-off date will be reinstated. But if it loses, then a new date of March 3 will be put in place.

Martin Heath, who submitted the planning application on behalf of BCA, said: “At worst, the FIT rate will fall to 21p for small systems. BCA calculate that even with this lower rate, we will still generate a tax-free interest rate of about 10 per cent and will generate significant income for the association for the next 25 years.”

Mr Heath, who is part of Basingstoke Transition Town, a local charity aimed at making Basingstoke less reliant on fossil fuels and reducing the area’s impact on the environment, has presented the results of a study on solar PV panels to the borough council.

He said: “This shows that solar PV still represents an excellent investment opportunity for us all, even with the lower rates.”