The first Big Solar Gathering was held in Birmingham on 18 October 2021 and we had a blast – so much community solar knowledge under one roof!
It was a truly constructive and inspiring day that included presentations on the new co-op rules that the Big Solar Co-op is working on with the FCA and the launch of the partnership with Community Energy Birmingham. In the afternoon there were informal workshops on making the most of volunteer energy, data informed learnings from other comparable projects, using social media to drive your project and ‘ask the expert’ sessions on solar tech.
Check out the video we made on the day that really gets to the heart of the how and the why the Big Solar Co-op needed to come into being:
Here is a flavour of the organisations that the attendees came from – thanks all!
Basingstoke Energy Services Co-op (BES Coop)
Charge my Street
Chase Community Solar
Co-op Culture
Community Energy Birmingham (CEB)
Community Energy England (CEE)
Cumbria Action for Sustainability
Cybermoor
Friends of the Earth
Malvern Community Energy
Moorlands Climate Action
Leominster Solar Co-op
Pomona Solar Co-op
Sharenergy Co-operative
South East London Community Energy (SELCE)
The Forum for Global Challenges at Institute for Global Innovation
Transition Buxton
University of Birmingham
Younity