Powering Progress Through Collaboration at Whiteborough Solar Park

Big Investment, Bigger Impact

In September, our friends at the Big Solar Co-op wrapped up their bond offer for the Whiteborough Solar Park on Ethex’s ethical investment platform, raising an impressive £1.8 million from 458 bondholders. That’s a lot of money and a lot of investors, but once you get to know the project, it’s easy to see why so many people were eager to get involved.

The Whiteborough Solar Park, located in North Nottinghamshire, spans roughly 10 acres, making it a perfect example of a ground-mounted solar PV installation that does not completely redefine the surrounding landscape. The project will convert an ex-opencast coal mine into a solar hub with 3.5MW of generating capacity. And here’s the cherry on top: 45% of the panels used will be reused from a decommissioned solar farm.

Why? Not because it’s easier or cheaper, it is actually much harder, requiring careful transportation and testing, but because the Big Solar Co-op genuinely care and wants to make a difference. And that’s clear to see, as the remaining 55% of panels have all been ethically sourced, guaranteeing they come from a supply chain free from forced labour and produced using 100% renewable energy. Going the extra mile to ensure every panel meets these standards is exactly what community energy is all about.

Building More Than a Solar Park

Construction officially broke ground earlier this year, shortly before the bond offer closed. £1.8 million…seriously, we can’t get over that much money! The solar park is set to generate around 3,000 MWh of clean energy annually for at least the next 25 years, supplying clean energy to the grid. On top of that, it will cut carbon emissions by over 600 tonnes each year.

In true community energy fashion, the Big Solar Co-op are also focusing on the local ecosystem. Alongside the site, they will be planting native hedgerows and trees, enhancing grassland, sowing wildflowers, and providing nesting boxes for farmland birds, all based on research from the RSPB and Cambridge University on boosting biodiversity on solar PV sites.

We called this project a true example of collaboration across the sector, and it lives up to that. So many organisations came together to make it happen: Ethex launched the ethical bond offer, our Kickstart Loan provided a £1 million loan guarantee, and We Have The Power offered a further £800,000 bridging loan. Together, these contributions gave the project the immediate capital it needed to proceed, with each partner enabling the project in a unique way.

Seeing all these groups come together highlights what’s special about community energy: people working collectively towards one goal, bringing power into the hands of everyday people, making it easy to support climate action, and strengthening energy independence. We can’t wait to see more projects like this popping up, and we hope to be right there supporting them.