"Catching the Sun" solar energy event on Fri 21st Jan

Hanover Action for Sustainable Living (HASL) formed just over a year ago as a spontaneous reaction to a showing of the film The Age of Stupid in Hanover. I feel it still has the spirit of "This is important, right what are we going to do about it?" which I love.

I suggested the idea of bringing solar energy installers together with local Hanover residents, to publicise the Labour government's feed-in-tariffs deal. Feed-in tariffs mean that if you install solar PV panels, you get paid for every unit of electricity they generate, even if you use it yourself, and if you generate surplus electricity it goes back into the grid. It's designed to offer a generous incentive to those home owners who are able to make the initial investment and willing to lead the way. What you generate will vary, but typically the return on investment is around 9% over the whole 25-year period you get the tariff. Crucially, if there are several people interested, they can work together with installers to get a good deal on the installation costs.

The idea of an event was taken up enthusiastically by HASL, and it has grown to include a presentation from Brighton and Hove Energy Co-operative, amongst other things, for those people who are interested in investing in FITs but don't happen to own a roof! It's all happening this coming Friday, Jan 21st, at 7.30pm at the Hanover Centre.

Tracey Hill