At our January 2023 meeting we had an interesting presentation from Tony McNally about the opportunities for addressing climate change using solar energy.
Tony McNally is Managing Director of Climate Change Solutions Ltd. This company was established in 2003 at Coventry Techno Centre to support and promote the move to a low carbon future. The company organises national conferences aimed at solutions to global warming. By bringing together suppliers with potential customers and policy makers they aim to improve knowledge and understanding and therefore encourage the adoption of low carbon clean solutions. The company is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
Tony is also co-founding Director of Heart of England Community Energy, a not-for-profit community benefit society which owns one of the largest community solar farms in the UK. The 15-megawatt array just outside Stratford-upon-Avon has been generating electricity from the sun since 2016. It is made up of around 60,000 solar panels producing enough energy to supply 4,500 home with green energy for 25 years. The company distributes its profits to community projects in South Warwickshire that help reduce carbon emissions.
Tony told us about the solar mapping of Coventry. An initial project mapped large south facing and flat roofs along the five and a half miles of the Coventry Canal. This was extended to the city centre and Coventry South Parliamentary Constituency. Surveying was undertaken by Warwick University students. Mapping of 1/3rd of Coventry’s south facing roofs, together with car parks demonstrated the capacity for 288,000 solar panel in the survey area. Projected to the whole city this amounts to a potential of 1 million panels.
The project was then extended in Birmingham covering 250 organisations in the Tyseley Environmental Enterprise District. There are plans to extend the mapping to other area within Birmingham East Regeneration Zone as well as Birmingham International Airport.
The Government’s plans to decarbonise the UK electricity system calls for an 500% increase in solar power within a decade. The West Midlands as the traditional powerhouse of Britain has a vital role to play in meeting the 2030 Climate Emergency imperative. At the present time, solar can also offer an alternative to the hike in grid prices, which have increased the cost of doing business and driven many people into fuel poverty. Now is a moment of opportunity for the West Midlands to play a role in addressing the concurrent threats of climate change and the energy crisis.
Climate Change Solutions are campaigning for a ten-year strategic plan for the West Midlands that would provide an incentive to the local manufacture of solar technologies as well as training many thousand new as well as existing workers. Economy of scale could be provided throughout the supply chain and making it more attractive for customers, particularly homeowners.
Much of the work undertaken so far has been done on a voluntary basis, particularly by students. It will now require sponsorship or grant funding to achieve the result consistent with the UK aim of a 500% increase of solar power within the next decade.
West Midlands Bright Solar Future can lead this movement – to do so will require the commitment of all including high-level partners to support the cocreation and delivery.
If you missed our meeting, there is a future event
“Solar Solutions Showcase – Next Steps”
From 2pm- 4pm on Wednesday 1st February 2023 at Coventry & Warwickshire Growth Hub Enterprise Centre, Coventry University Technology Park, Puma Way, Coventry, CV1 2TT. You can register for this event by emailing: [email protected]