Grants are in the news again! The tranche of cash recently added to the Low Carbon Building Programme phase 2 looks likely to be exhausted towards the end of this month. If you have a community project that requires funding from this programme, my advice is to make sure that you get the application in.

Solar PV systems are a good match for community buildings as often they have day time activities that use the power as it is generated. Any surplus will be exported to the local electricity grid. Systems are also maintenance free and have a long life. As long as you have a good south facing roof, free from over shading then a PV project may be just the thing for your building. But you will need to act fast to get funding under the current funding programme.

There are other programmes that will still fund 50 per cent of the costs of an installation on a community building including the Community Sustainable Energy programme.

Photo by Ricardo / zone41.net

About the author: Graham Eastwick is a director of Encraft, and manages renewable energy installations for home owners, community organisations and small businesses across the UK.

If you have a question about anything in the above blog, please ask it in the comments section below.