Grassroots repowering of London sees solar boost for libraries

Arifa Begum says community must switch to cleaner and cheaper solar power

Arifa Begum. John Spaull / Ashden Awards

When Arifa Begum approached residents of her diverse neighbourhood in the London borough of Newham to get them to invest in solar panels for their local libraries, she was surprised by the response.

Many had never heard of solar energy before, Ms Begum told The National.

“When we told them we were buying solar energy and installing it in local libraries and schools, their first question was: what is green energy?” she recalled.

Ms Begum was encouraging residents, a third of whom are muslim, to become investors in the solar panels for three local libraries – putting up a minimum of £50 ($67) with the possibility of a three per cent return every year.

The initiative, which raised its £120,000 target in three months, was part of Repowering London, an NGO that won the Ashden Awards for climate solutions on Wednesday.

Over its lifetime, the project is expected to save up to 734 tonnes of carbon emissions and contribute an estimated £25,100 to a fund for the benefit of the local community.

Solar panels were installed on the roofs of Stratford, Beckton Globe and East Ham libraries, and funded by Repowering Finance, a non-profit business.

Community Energy Newham, the co-operative established for the project, then raised the funds from local residents to buy the panels powering the libraries.

The next phase will involve panels for the Godwin Junior and St Stephen’s Primary schools, where the installation is expected to finish before 2028.

The roof of Stratford Library, where a solar array has recently been completed. Photo: Jon Spaull / Ashden

The borough of Newham is among London’s poorest but it is also one of the most emerging. With the Olympic Park regeneration project at its doorstep, constituencies in the borough were recently ranked top in the England for social mobility and opportunity.

Ms Begum, who is originally from Bangladesh, said almost a third (28 per cent) of residents in the borough were Bengali.

She has been a community lead on the Newham project, and said that a lot of their online contacts were in Bengali, and they also contacted local Bengali newspapers.

Ms Begum notes that many were keen to have solar panels installed in their homes but did not know how.

Even for those previously aware of the technology, Ms Begum said that little information was available about the practicalities of installing solar power for personal use.

“We are not educated enough about how much it costs and what kind of roof is needed,” she said.

It is a gap that the UK government is also trying to bridge, announcing last week that solar panels will be fitted “by default” in new homes as part of its Future Homes Standard that will be published in autumn this year.

“Solar panels can save people hundreds of pounds off their energy bills, so it is just common sense for new homes to have them fitted as standard,” said Energy Secretary Ed Miliband. “So many people just don’t understand why this doesn’t already happen."

Repowering London's founder, Afsheen Kabir Rashid, said: "This is good news, but not good enough as the UK has an old building stock."

Ms Kabir Rashid pointed to the estimated 29 million homes that must be retrofitted to meet 2050 net-zero targets, according to 2020 research by the UK Energy Research Centre.

"We need funding to support a community retrofit revolution to take households through the retrofit journey prioritising resident consent, comfort, wellbeing and safety throughout the process," she said.

Repowering Finance aims to create community funds worth up to £750,000, which can be used to train young people in green energy jobs, and allow families in social housing to buy clean energy and reduce bills.

"We want every community energy group to have access to low cost, flexible finance that prioritises social impact over financial returns. Repowering Finance is a model that can be replicated to enable local ownership and benefits across the UK," Ms Kabir Rashid said.

The Brixton-based Repowering London first won the Ashden Award in 2016 – and its naming this year recognises the organisation’s achievements since then.

“Repowering London have shaken up the community energy sector. A hands-on, people-centred organisation, they have a deep commitment to improving skills and opportunities in clean energy, which includes training young people,” the award's organisers said in a statement.

“Profits generated by the sale of solar energy generated are used to support local initiatives like energy efficiency advice for social housing residents."

Its Voyage to Repower programme in 2023 offered unemployed 16-24 year olds a pathway into green careers, and more than 150 young people have received paid training and mentoring.