Tucked away among hedgerows on a large field between a motorway and the River Ray, one of the UK\u2019s largest community-owned solar parks is hard to spot from the surrounding country lanes.<\/p>\n
But the nearly 36,000 solar panels installed on the site are literally a shining example of what can be achieved when a renewable energy project is co-owned by local people.<\/p>\n
Ray Valley Solar, south of Bicester in Oxfordshire<\/a>, generates enough clean electricity to power about 7,000 homes for a year, and uses its profits to provide grants to community initiatives that help reduce carbon emissions and make homes, schools and businesses across Oxfordshire more energy efficient.<\/p>\n Now, plans to install battery storage at the site with investment from members of the public \u2013 the first community-owned battery at a renewable energy project in the UK \u2013 will, it is hoped, give the project a big boost.<\/p>\n On very sunny days, Ray Valley Solar \u2013 which uses efficient double-sided solar panels that can capture sunlight that bounces back from the ground at the rear of the panels \u2013 produces more clean electricity than the local grid can take, resulting in some energy being wasted.<\/p>\n Storage is a critical challenge for the young technology around renewable energy. But plans to install a battery here mean the project will capture surplus solar power during the day and store it until it can be released during the peaks of demand in the evening, when the grid is more carbon intensive and electricity more expensive.<\/p>\n \u201cThis will allow the community solar park to generate more power and therefore to earn more money, which is reinvested into local sustainability and emission-cutting projects,\u201d said Barbara Hammond, the chief executive of the Low Carbon Hub<\/a>, one of the biggest community energy organisations in the country, which set up the solar park in 2022.<\/p>\n Barbara Hammond at Ray Valley Solar. Photograph: Low Carbon Hub<\/p>\n With capacity to store 12 megawatt hours of electricity every day, the battery is expected to save enough electricity to power an additional 300 homes a year. By selling the electricity for a higher price during the evening peak, Low Carbon Hub estimates it can increase its community benefit contribution to \u00a31m over the battery\u2019s 15-year lifetime.<\/p>\n Batteries, however, are still extremely expensive, although the race is on globally to find cheaper ways to produce them. In order to finance the installation of this particular lithium-ion battery, planned for October, the Low Carbon Hub is seeking to raise between \u00a3500,000 and \u00a31.3m. People and organisations can buy shares between \u00a3100 and \u00a3100,000 in the hub\u2019s Community Energy<\/a> Fund via the investing platform Ethex until late June, with investors forecast to receive up to 5% return on their investment.<\/p>\n