“Not only will it enable home owners to have high quality solar panels installed at a more affordable price but it will also help our district to achieve its carbon emission goals.”
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A year ago, the county council committed to converting all its streetlights to low carbon LEDs:
Low-carbon Devon streetlights by 2023 – Radio Exe
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This is all part of the council’s response to the climate emergency:
Devon takes action over climate emergency – Vision Group for Sidmouth
Devon aims to be carbon neutral by 2030 – Vision Group for Sidmouth
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East Devon is also making efforts:
District Council pushes climate change projects – Vision Group for Sidmouth
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And the latest is a collaboration to help residents buy solar panels – as this press release from the council shows:
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Solar Panel group-buying scheme will save you money and help save the planet
26 August 2020
Led by Devon County Council, the scheme is partnered by 10 of Devon’s planning authorities, who are all members of DCE’s Response Group (DCERG). The scheme’s partners are East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge and Torridge District Councils, West Devon Borough Council, Exeter City Council and Dartmoor and Exmoor National Park Authorities.
Solar Together is one of the ways the DCE is helping local people take a positive step to reduce their own carbon footprints.
Research by the University of Exeter shows that 19 per cent of all Devon’s carbon emissions are created by our homes, with more than half of those by grid-supplied electricity. Installing solar panels will reduce the amount of grid-supplied electricity needed for things like hot water, with a transfer to more eco-friendly solar energy.
This scheme follows four similar projects run across the country last year which promise to deliver over 1,300 installations, saving an estimated 28,000 tonnes of carbon emissions from being produced.
If you are interested, the first step is to register for free HERE – by registering, there is no obligation to install panels.
A ‘reverse’ auction involving pre-vetted suppliers will then take place this autumn and the winning bid will be the most cost-effective one for registered residents to then consider. Registered households will then receive a recommendation, specifically tailored to the details they submitted in their registration. If they accept the recommendation, the specifics of their installation will be confirmed with a technical survey and then a date can be set for installation.
Councillor Marianne Rixson, Portfolio Holder for Climate Change at East Devon District Council said:
“I welcome this group-buying scheme for solar panels. Not only will it enable home owners to have high quality solar panels installed at a more affordable price but it will also help our district to achieve its carbon emission goals.”