Solar project cuts bills by enabling community-owned energy in east London

Quick Smiles:

• Repowering London’s micro-grid on housing roofs connects residents to locally generated clean power.
• Electricity bills are down by about 15% during rising costs.
• Solar panels have been installed across 28 blocks, supporting 800 residents in Hackney.

A revolutionary solar power project in east London is transforming how social housing residents access electricity. By utilizing new regulations, the initiative allows locally generated clean energy to be supplied directly to nearby council home tenants.

The system operates as a micro-grid on the flat roofs of housing blocks, exporting surplus power back to the National Grid. This innovative approach has successfully reduced typical household electricity bills by approximately 15% during a time of rising costs.

It’s the single largest deployment in the social housing sector, and the only such project that’s been delivered with zero government funding towards the capital costs. The system pays for itself.

To date, the initiative has installed solar panels across 28 blocks, benefiting 800 residents in the borough of Hackney. With millions of social housing flats across the UK, the model is poised for national expansion to bring affordable green power to more communities.

These grassroots movements demonstrate that the future of energy can be local, affordable, and owned by the people who use it. By decentralizing power, communities are building a more resilient and fairer energy system for everyone.

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