A typical way to buy solar panels to place on community buildings might be through grants (if you’re lucky!), loans from a high street bank or through a rent a roof scheme offered by an energy supplier. We’ve done things a little differently.
We asked people and organisations in Old Trafford and beyond to buy shares in the solar PV panels put on the roof of St John’s Church (and possibly other buildings in the future). The money raised was used to pay for the panels and eaccess money from the Government’s Feed in Tariff (FiT) , a green energy cash back scheme. The aim was to use any ‘profit’ to cover minimal running costs (the enterprise is delivered by volunteers), to pay out small ‘Sunshine Grants’ in our community and offer a modest return of interest to investors. Our first community share offer was launched on 1st April 2012 (see some pictures on the home page).
If you are interested in doing the same for your own project then you might like to take a look at the documents we prepared for our share offer. It’s important that you don’t just copy these as all projects are different – we suggest you take a look at the links pages for organisations who can help you.
Download the share offer (now closed)
Download a share offer investment form (individuals) (now closed)
Download a share offer investment form (organisations) (now closed)
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