Residents interested in solar panels offer

ABOUT 85 people attended two public meetings at Henley town hall to listen to a presentation about installing solar panels at their homes.

Representatives from IDDEA, a renewable energy company based in Wiltshire, has teamed up with the town council’s climate emergency working group, which is working on a series of ideas to make Henley carbon neutral by 2030.

The company is offering to install a 14-panel system at a house for £4,000. It is able to keep the cost down by buying the equipment in bulk.

The presentations included facts and figures of a typical system, information on additional equipment to store energy and advice on how to get the best return when selling energy back into the national grid.

Rebecca Chandler-Wilde, who is overseeing the project, said: “IDDEA are very keen not to mislead anybody and that is why they don’t go for the hard sell and tell people they will immediately make lots of money. They want to be completely honest and that is one of the reasons why we like working with them.”

Mrs Chandler-Wilde spent the morning with other members of the working group, including Patrick Fleming and Jackie Walker, at an information stand in Market Place to tell people about IDDEA’s offer.

She added: “We had 20 enquiries even before the first meeting started and the usual thing is to have no enquiries, so that is a really positive sign.”

Mr Fleming, who is also a member of the environmental campaign group Greener Henley, said: “I thought the meetings went very well and there were lots of intelligent questions. IDDEA were really surprised at how knowledgeable the people of Henley were about this issue.”

The company will contribute £50 from every installation, which will be used to donate solar panels to a community project. It has already completed 800 projects elsewhere.

Founder Ian Dunstone, an army veteran, said: “In the early days, solar panels were considered a bit of a fad and some of my peers in the industry made money early on and then left when the going got tough.

“To last in this industry, you have got to be a little bit brave and that is what Solar Streets is about. We are here to stay. We are pleased to be working with Henley and are trying to get the community engaged.”

Head of sales Michael Lamerton, who gave the presentation, said: “We are in a climate emergency. There are people near the River Severn who are under water. Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, Australia is on fire, so it is clear there is a problem.

“A lot of councils have declared climate emergencies, which is great, but you actually have to do something about it. You need to look at practical ways to be carbon neutral.” Among those at the presentations was Jeremy Bray, 59, of Deanfield Road, Henley, who is a team leader at Henley Baptist Church. He had a solar panel system at his previous home in Warwick.

Mr Bray, who is married with a teenage daughter, said: “There are obviously environmental benefits from using energy directly from the sun rather than burning fossil fuels.

“I know from my experience that the cost benefits will take time and that is the challenge for some people. You need to have some upfront finances available.

“Our system in Warwick was £9,000 just for the panels. We had it for three or four years, so we didn’t get back our investment, but it was more about the environmental issues.

“As a family we are very keen to get solar panels. We think they are a fantastic thing and would be good for the community.”

Anyone who is interested but was unable to attend a meeting should call 01380 726999 or email info@iddea.co.uk