Shalford Village Hall Solar PV Installation

Success!

Working with the Trustees of the Village Hall to Design, Fund and Install PV solar on our Village Halls.

Now installed! As of September 2025, there are 68 panels on the lower hall roof and around 30 kWh of batteries. This is reducing the hall's electricity bills and in times of strong sunshine, pushing renewable energy onto the local electricity grid.

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Initial Concept and Proposal

Shalford Village Hall Solar Project Proposal.

January 2024 Introduction

Maddie Evans January 2024

Introduction

The Shalford Peasmarsh and Chilworth Climate Action Group (SPCCAG) are sponsored by the Community Council. Our remit is to support the Council, who have declared a climate crisis, by identifying small and large actions in the Parish that support the whole community to adjust to the transition and to reduce our climate impact.

We have identified that the village halls in both Chilworth and Shalford may be suitable for a solar PV roof installation. This would provide both power and potentially an income stream to the Village Hall Trustee. It also reduces the carbon footprint of the community as a whole.

The solar PV industry, though new, is maturing and there are several established, national and local firms who could do this work without the risks associated with the start-up companies operating 10 years ago.

This project has been set up to look at the feasibility of a PV installation; to request proposals from three established suppliers, and to apply for funding from local government or national funds to pay for installation.

We are currently in the scoping phase.

Details

Impact

Shalford is served by the 33kV substation opposite Shalford Infant School. This has a peak load of 15MW/12MW winter and summer and is forecast to need an upgrade to meet increasing demand after 2035. There is currently 1.3MWp of solar installed on approximately 2% of homes and businesses. Community solar projects at the scale of 20-100kWp can make a significant contribution to reducing demand on gas power stations. Battery storage can defer the date we need to upgrade by lowering peak demand.

Context

The village hall is now using electric heating. A solar PV installation could be combined with batteries to allow the hall to balance the demand during the day and evening. There is also the possibility to access lower cost overnight tariffs in the winter to minimise heating costs.

We propose to install the maximum practical size of array, as excess power generated can be sold to the Grid. By doing this we make the biggest impact on decarbonising the village. Considering the location, Shalford is unlikely to be able to install some of the alternative community energy options, such as a wind turbine, or a larger-scale solar farm on farmland.

Similar projects elsewhere have included EV car charging facilities and these may be considered when we get to detailed design.

Any project will depend on the state of repair of the various roof areas, and it may be prudent to avoid using some roofs immediately and keep this option open by designing for a possible future extension to the PV array.

Funding

We are taking advice from Community Energy South. There are several possible funding models. These include.

100% grant funding, ideal but hard to get.
Match funding at 50% where we need to combine grants or look for a sponsor or provide capital, this has been successful elsewhere but will depend on current funding options relevant to Shalford.
A Community Bond issue. These have been successful but would be bureaucratic to administer over the 25-year lifecycle. High interest rates make these bonds harder to sell. Community funding may interest some of our residents who do not have a suitable property to install PV themselves.
Using a funding company that manages community bonds at scale.

Any funding option needs to be acceptable to the Village Hall Trustee. We note that the forecast income stream and savings do provide more flexibility in the funding options.

Progress to Date

We obtained feasibility studies for the Hall. We received a first design from Elite Renewables (Feb 2023), https://www.eliterenewables.co.uk/ We are also talked to Basingstoke Energy Services COOP, https://bes.coop/ who were asked to provide a second proposal.

Full funding was obtained from Surrey County Councillor Fiona White, and following a review of the latest proposals from installers, installation of solar panels and batteries was completed in September 2025. The system is now up and running. At the time of writing (October 2025), it remains for arrangements for payment for electricity export to be completed.