A COMMUNITY group has launched a share offer, in its bid to raise more than £200,000 to install solar panels in Salisbury.

Salisbury Community Energy (SCE) has signed up seven sites across the city for solar panels which, according to the group, equates to supplying around 60 houses with clean electricity.

For the installations to go ahead before March 2020 however, SCE needs to raise £227,000.

To achieve this total SCE has teamed up with Schools Energy Co-op, and has issued an offer for Salisbury residents to get financially involved with the installation process through shares.

As an incentive, each person will receive 4.5 per cent interest each year on the money they have invested.

“It is a co-operative ethos of acting for ourselves - it’s ordinary people putting their money where their mouth is,” explained founder of SCE, Alison Craig.

She added: “There are enough people in Salisbury who want to see action on climate change, and with the support of our key partners, including the cathedral and Salisbury City Council, people will feel confident in us to invest their savings, knowing they are going to get such a decent return.

“There is very little solar photovoltaics (PV) in South Wiltshire, if you look at solar PV sites on a map there is essentially a huge gap in the South Wiltshire area, apart from people sorting their own solar PV on their own homes, so this is quite the big project.”

The sites which have signed up for solar panel installation in the area include Amesbury Primary School, Bishop Wordsworth’s School, Cathedral Cloisters, Kong Company, River Bourne Community Farm, St Martin’s Primary School and the Wiltshire College Salisbury campus.

SCE director Caroline Lanyon added: “We want to see solar panels on every single roof possible, it’s just amazing what can be done when commitment is there, and in the long term this is just so profitable. It just makes total economic sense.”

The group was inspired by the recent share offer scheme completed by Nadder Community Energy, which raised around £500,000 for solar panel installation.

Alison added: “We want to see renewable energy as completely normal, and the way to do that is put solar PV on schools and treat it as normal, and allow for people to see how efficient it is. Then people will realise we don’t have to stick to fossil fuels.”

The offer closes on December 15.

For more information and to request a brochure visit salisburycommunityenergy.co.uk/