The Tea & PV project in Yorkshire North & East
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The Yorkshire North & East Methodist District is leading the pathway towards Net Zero for the 200+ churches in its care. The current project is called Tea & PV, the PV being photovoltaic panels, commonly known as solar panels, that convert light into electricity. These are being installed on selected churches across this part of Yorkshire and showcasing them to promote solar panels and the Net Zero objective.
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What about the Tea? Now that the solar panels are installed, the next step is to get data on screens inside the churches and get the message out there of how much electricity was generated. Often the software displays this information by showing how it translates into trees being planted. Adele says, “In Methodist terms, we thought cups of tea were the best way of explaining this: the amount of energy it takes to brew one cup of tea is what we have been using to communicate the benefit of solar panels.
The Tea & PV project that resulted from this work was facilitated by a £100,000 grant from Centrica’s Energy for Tomorrow fund which helped them to install the solar panels. “We wanted to explore not just what solar panels did, in terms of cash, or net zero, but how they could be installed in different settings,” explains Adele Borrowman, the district Grant Fundraising Enabler.
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Queen Street Scarborough was selected for its uniqueness: built as a cinema in case the church did not take off, the building is technically challenging to install solar panels on with its sloped, curving roof and window lights. “We know that if we can get solar panels on this building then there is a lot of scope for other places,” explains Adele. It is located in the top 2% of UK’s deprived areas and has an essential role in the local community. The financial savings due to the solar panels will make a massive difference.
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Queen Street, Scarborough, YO11 1HQ
Methodist Church
QUEEN STREET
