With the substantial and growing number of houses in the Meadows, we have the incredible potential of generating our own energy.

Through the Sensible Project (run recently in the community), the idea of using battery storage to share this electricity among ourselves has been explored, which could lead to significant reductions in energy costs.

Although this couldn't be physically implemented due to licensing constraints, we successfully demonstrated its feasibility in the Meadows through virtual means.

A remarkable real-life project has emerged in Nottingham at Trent Basin, just a stone's throw away from the Meadows. This is also an experimental project that has been able to get permission to run, showing how well the system could work in reality. 

This experimental initiative, spearheaded by the University of Nottingham, SmartKlub, and Blueprint, obtained a grant from Innovate UK to purchase a sizable community battery and to connect all the houses in the development to it.

The houses in this development are equipped with PV panels as a standard feature, enabling them to charge electric cars and exchange electricity with their batteries. By harnessing solar power during the day and utilizing cheap grid electricity at night, the batteries are replenished. During peak times, surplus electricity is sold to the grid, generating income. The houses can draw energy from the battery when necessary or when they are not generating their own electricity.

To learn more about this ground-breaking project:

Join our tour which departs from the Meadows Library at 10am. A minibus will take us to the Energy Hub at Trent Basin, where there is a large visual display explaining how the system works.

Please note: the mini-bus will leave the Meadows at 10:30 am sharp.

We will then continue with a walking tour of part of the development, culminating in a visit to the remarkable community battery.

Afterward, the mini-bus will take us back to the Meadows, leaving you inspired by the possibilities of sustainable energy.