British weather is synonymous with gloom and overcast skies. However, a quietly expanding movement has been working hard to prove there might just be enough sun to power a greener future. Spurred on by a drastic decline of 82 percent over nine years in the cost of solar panel installations, community-led energy projects are now generating enough electricity to power thousands of homes and buildings. Profits are typically poured back into localized, grassroot environmental initiatives or to help people struggling with fuel poverty.
Some of these community-owned efforts are aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of solar energy in the country’s most economically deprived areas. In South London, the nonprofit Brixton Energy has been running one of the world’s first inner-city, cooperatively owned renewable energy projects since 2011. A solar power station, which was funded by a total community share offer of $73,000, now sits on the roof of a social housing block. At the time of the project’s conception, 90 percent of the shareholders were living within a mile of the actual block.
