HASL's solar energy event at the Hanover Centre on Friday night attracted around 40-50 people, and there was a real buzz to it. The best parts were hearing from local people. Clare talked about her experiences of installing solar PV, and it was great hearing about the pluses and minuses, and the exciting elements of it, like checking the meter every few hours exactly how much energy was being generated! Paul described the solar thermal system (hot water tubes on the roof) and that was fascinating. It was good to learn that your property does not have to be 100% perfect for an installation to work: Paul's solar thermal tubes lie horizontally on a flat roof, which is not the best position, but the system is still so efficient that they do not need to heat water by any other means for most of the summer.
We also heard from the Brighton and Hove Energy Co-operative about their plans to set up the first co-op to invest in solar energy. And some interesting info about buying renewable energy (Ecotricity etc). As ever, it's the participation of everyone that makes these events so interesting.
Several people were interested in the feed-in tariff scheme, and it would be really excellent if, as a result of this meeting, people were encouraged to get together and go ahead with it. We'll definitely be following it up and aiming to make this happen.
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