SunPeople partners welcomed to Plymouth

We recently hosted our first SunPeople consortium event with project partners Plymouth City Council, ALOEN and AEZEO visiting Plymouth from Lorient in France.

The SunPeople project aims to devise a business model to deliver both solar PV and heating solutions through the use of heat pumps. All of the findings from the project will be made accessible to community energy groups, social enterprises, Councils and businesses who wish to understand how to better reduce their carbon emissions while making it affordable for local people.

A key aspect of the project is engagement and as such we hosted a free event at Plymouth University’s Sustainability Hub to help demystify renewable heating. There was a fantastic turnout with community energy groups, Local Authorities, social housing providers, industry experts and community members all in attendance.

We heard two excellent talks from heat pump manufacturers Kensa and Mitsubishi who delved into the technical detail of heat pumps and their huge potential to provide more efficient, lower carbon heating. This was followed by presentations from our French project partners who focused on how we can train people to locally manufacture and maintain their own solar panels and potentially heat pumps. They also provided a fascinating insight into the community energy sector in France and how they are looking to deliver the SunPeople project.

Small working groups then focussed on technical issues, what we would like to see from the SunPeople project, key barriers and how people would like to get involved. The wide range of stakeholders and industry experts ensured valuable discussion while the project partners from Lorient provided a different viewpoint and helped show the value of cross channel collaboration.

PEC and Plymouth City Council are now working hard in incorporating all of the excellent ideas into the project with a key focus on our demonstration sites. We are always very keen to hear from people who are interested in the project and would like to find out more. We will be providing regular updates throughout and making key findings available to all.

We are looking for participants, individuals or professionals interested in subscribing to a sustainable heat energy service and suppliers interested in contributing to its implementation.

Please click on the link below to read further information about the project and to register your interest.