Braishfield is celebrating the switching on of its new solar panel and battery system. For around 8 months of the year it will provide all the electricity needed by the hall, shop and café; in the winter months some power will need to come from the National grid.
The £53000 project was developed by village hall trustees Malcolm Ayres and Chris Balchin with support from Dragonfly Power, a local community energy group. The project was funded by grants from electricity network operator SSEN’s Powering Communities to Net Zero fund, Test Valley Borough Council’s Community Asset Fund and Braishfield Parish Council who provided extra funding to boost the battery capacity. The whole installation was carried out by Cinergi, a Romsey based company who provided an excellent service.
This installation is a big step to making the hall more sustainable, fighting climate change by generating on site, carbon free electricity and helps secure the long term future of the hall, shop and café by providing energy resilience. Running costs are much lower and the worry of increasing electricity costs is removed. It completes an overall vision for a greener building where all lighting has been updated to LED and all heating is provided by air source heat pumps.
The large battery capacity means the hall will still have lighting and heating for days if there is a long term power cut and can act as a resilient refuge when the people of Braishfield most need it.
