Community Solar Farm

Pic courtesy of here

As passionate as Mr B is about solar, it was only a matter of time before he began to look at ways of involving the community in solar projects. About 12 months ago, Mr B began talks with our local council regarding the opportunity of developing a community solar farm locally. These talks were a) really helpful and b) fairly successful in that the local council was very open to the idea and in theory could provide the land for such a project.

Mr B was also lucky enough to meet and brainstorm with some of the directors of Hepburn Wind (a community wind farm in Daylesford). Simon Holmes a Court was a great sounding board as Mr B worked with sustainability members of our local council area to develop a plan for a similar solar farm.

In May, the actual community group began to assemble and meeting to discuss how such a project would work within the community. The local renewable energy association is heavily involved as are many passionate people within the community who have joined into the collaborative process.

The exciting news is that this community solar farm group is launching next week. Mr B is scheduled to give a talk along with others. We are both so excited that a project which feels like we have been talking about forever has actually grown roots and looks like getting off the ground :-)

In the meantime, Mr B has begun working on other local community projects in rural areas such as Wangaratta. The benefit of his current job is that it is part time, and as such allows him the ability to work on other renewable energy projects in solar around Victoria. But life feels very positive and exciting right now as he gets to combine his love of solar with his need to contribute back to society and building communities.