Solar Performance over Summer 2020 

This summer, our community owned PV panels generated 105 MWh, saving 25 tonnes of CO2 (based on meter readings taken in September 2020).  It’s great to see our 2019 installations performing well at the sunniest time of year!

That brings the total generation for the life of the project to 673 MWh, saving 180 tonnes of CO2, which is equivalent to planting 235 acres of forest! (source: EPA).

GMCR Energy Savers

As mentioned previously, Electricity North West has awarded GMCR a grant to support our sites and their local communities to save energy and save carbon. We are excited to be working with Groundwork to deliver a programme of fully funded activities; which include assemblies, workshops, energy quizzes and games.  Through this partnership, the GMCR Energy Savers project will also provide home visits and telephone support for those who are struggling with their energy costs.

As you can imagine, delivering community events hasn’t been possible during the pandemic; in Greater Manchester we’ve had localised restrictions in place since the end of July 2020.  Accordingly we’ll be focusing on getting the message to households through school and community communication channels.

Virtual events

We’ve been along to a few virtual events, including a volunteers virtual trip to the “alternative COP26”, a civil society event taking place even though the UN climate talks have been postponed a year.  We spoke at the Manchester Environmental Education Network AGM and at the North West Friends of the Earth event “What if all energy was green energy?” in August.  You can watch the video of Kate’s What If talk here.