South East London Community Energy (SELCE)

Eleven roofs, one community fund

SELCE's 11 solar sites collectively generate 487,326 kilowatt-hours of clean electricity every year, saving the site owners over £300,000 across the lifetime of the installations. Every one of those projects has been community-financed through share offers, meaning local people — not outside investors — own the panels on their own schools and community buildings.

For the past seven years, SELCE has used the surplus from those solar sites to fund local support for people facing fuel poverty, growing into a full advice service with energy cafés, in-person appointments, and free workshops on everything from reading a bill to understanding how solar panels work.

Taking on heat, not just electricity

SELCE's latest project shows how far its ambitions have grown. Its seventh community share offer is raising £70,000 to fund a heat pump for Charlton Park Academy, a special educational needs school in Greenwich, to heat its 24/7 hydrotherapy pool using power largely generated by the school's own solar panels. It would be SELCE's 24th community-financed installation, following 12 solar projects and 11 LED lighting upgrades — and, if successful, one of the first community-owned low-carbon heat projects of its kind in London.

1. 11 solar sites, generating 487,326 kWh of clean electricity a year

2. Over £300,000 in savings for site owners over the projects' lifetimes

3. 24 community-financed installations and counting

4. Charlton Park Academy projected to save more than £150,000 over 20 years from its new heat pump

As an award-winning member of Community Energy England, SELCE is proud to be part of a national network paving the way for a cleaner, fairer future — and its move into low-carbon heat shows community energy groups don't have to stop at the electricity meter.