Melksham

Check your roof is suitable or get a Free Quotation - email [email protected] with your name, address and phone number and say you’re from Melksham Solar Streets. IDDEA will do a desktop search via Google Earth and get back to you with the details.

Please note: all suppliers of Solar have been experiencing supply issues in the past year - although it is getting much better, IDDEA do have a backlog of installations to get through before they take on any new ones and it is likely to take from 3 to 6 months for an installation to take place; however, with rising energy prices it still makes good sense to invest in Solar PV.

With electricity prices soaring, now is a good time to start generating your own electricity. Solar Streets is a way of getting solar panels for your house or business at discounted prices. You can directly help in the fight against climate change, as well as helping your local community, as a donation is given to the Community Fund on every install - £50 for a domestic installation and £100 for a commercial one - the Fund will be used for green projects in your area.

Your solar panels will be installed by IDDEA Ltd. Established in 2007, IDDEA are based out of Westbury in Wiltshire, but have teams operating in your area, and have installed over 1,000 solar projects across the South - they are committed to supporting communities taking action against climate change.

They have installed Solar Streets projects in neighbouring areas including Frome, Castle Cary and Bruton, as well as further afield in Didcot, High Wycombe, and Henley-on-Thames.

If you have any questions to do with Solar Streets or anything you’ve seen on this page then email us at [email protected] and we’ll get back to you.

Let’s make Melksham Solar Streets an effective weapon in the fight to halt Climate Change and Save Our Planet.

Launch Presentation and Q&A session via Zoom

Thursday 23rd March 2023 at 7.30 pm - 8.30 pm

Click here to register for the zoom presentation and Q&A. 

If you have any questions please contact us on [email protected] 

Who is Involved?

A Message from your Green Advocates

“As part of Melksham Town Council’s ethos on sustainability, the Town Council is delighted to welcome ‘Solar Streets’ to Melksham. Residents are encouraged to explore the opportunity presented by this scheme with a view to reducing Melksham’s carbon footprint and making their own individual contribution to address climate change.”

Melksham Town Council

What’s the Deal?

What is available in the Scheme?

Standard Offering

The Standard Offering is a 4 kWp system including installation and starts from £5,700 - this is likely to suit a 3-Bedroom house. However, you may need a smaller or larger system, and these are available, discounted like the standard offering. However, each system will be tailored to your house and your consumption requirements - we will not oversell you a system that you don’t want or need.

Unfortunately prices have increased this year due to increased transportation costs and leaps in the price of fuel, as well as scarcity of parts, but you will find that this has affected all solar installers – also, be aware they may have to increase again with the current volatile world situation. However, with the rise in price of electricity solar is still a very good deal and the payback period has reduced in most cases. Also, once you receive your quotation the price will be guaranteed to remain the same within the acceptance period stated on the quote. All installers have been hit by these price rises but, as always, we recommend you get at least one other quotation to make sure you are happy with the prices quoted by Solar Streets, but we stress that you need to make sure you are comparing like for like and it is the same size system.

Optional Extras

Optimised System

• If you are worried about losing power from your panels because of shading issues, or a single panel failing and knocking out the others, then you can upgrade your system to an optimised system. This uses a different inverter which controls optimisers on each panel so that if one panel has a problem, the inverter takes it out of the system so it doesn’t affect the rest of the panels and they will go on producing electricity as normal. We only suggest an optimised system if you have a severe shading problem as it is not necessary otherwise. When you ask IDDEA for a quote be sure to tell them you may want an optimised system. This will add approximately £1,000 onto the cost of your normal system whatever size system you go for, but it will be itemised in the quote so you know exactly what you’re paying for.

Battery Storage Systems

• If you are going to need to use your Solar PV output in the evening then you will need a battery to store the energy during the day for use later. A 5kW Givenergy battery is from approx £3,600 fitted when you have it installed with the panels.

• You can have a battery fitted later if you want but it will be more expensive as the VAT changes. The price installed with the panels only has 5% VAT on it, but the price installed later has 20% VAT on it. Sorry, there’s nothing we can do about this!

iBOOST

• Use this neat little add-on device, which attaches to your water tank, to heat your water with your solar energy. The iBoost diverts any excess solar power to your tank to heat your water (rather than using your gas or oil boiler to do this). This generally saves you more money than selling your excess back to the grid at 5p per unit. Please note: you need a water tank with a heating element, this doesn’t work on combi-boilers. An iBoost is approx £330 when fitted with your panels.

Electric Vehicle Charging Points

• We can easily put in a charging point for your electric vehicle at the same time as we install your panels. However, IDDEA generally don’t do stand-alone charging points - it’s only cost effective if it’s done on the back of installing your panels.

• If your electric car is sat at home during the day then you can use your panels to charge it. Many people think about using their car battery as battery storage to use later, but you can only do this if you have a 2-way charger so you can take the power out of the battery and back to the grid when you need to. Most 2-way chargers are only in trials at the moment, but you will be able to buy them in the future. Currently IDDEA only install regular one way chargers.

The Community Fund

• IDDEA add £50 per residential installation and £100 for a commercial installation into the Community Fund
• The Community Fund will be spent on green projects to benefit your area and will be administered by Melksham Council

Funding

You must decide how to fund the panels yourself – there are the usual funding avenues for you to explore, but because you are in the South West of England, then you have the extra option of Lendology, who work with local Councils to provide loans to householders.

Lendology

If you need a loan to finance your panels then Lendology will offer you advice and a quotation if your project matches their lending criteria. https://www.lendology.org.uk/

“Lendology CIC is a unique lender, working with homeowners to fund home improvements. Based on the outskirts of Taunton, our team works across the South West providing a variety of loan schemes in partnership with local district councils. As a not-for-profit organisation, using the Council partner funding, we are able to provide homeowners access to financial support to help with the cost of repairs.”

Please note: Lendology has no connection with Solar Streets, The Green Group (UK) Ltd, or IDDEA Ltd. We are not offering financial advice – if you choose to speak to Lendology about a loan then that is your own choice and they will explain all the financial consequences to you.

Commercial Options

For all the options below please remember to let us know you are part of Solar Streets by putting it in the subject line of any email, so we can apply your discount.

Solar Canopies

• For businesses who don’t have enough roof space or just want extra solar electricity, you can add solar canopies to your car park space - you can still use it as a car park but the panels sit on a canopy above the cars on a secure steel structure - ask us at [email protected]

Businesses/Schools

• If you use a lot of electricity in your business and have a large roof on your workspace then ask us about a commercial installation and see how you can save on your electricity bill - ask us at [email protected]
• If your business doesn’t have the funds to hand for the installation but you still want to use Green Electricity then ask us about a Power Purchase Agreement where you do not have any upfront cost but you can still save money on the per unit rate you pay for your electricity - please note, a PPA usually runs for 10 to 25 years so it is not a short-term option, but can be a great option if you own your building or have a very long lease - ask us at [email protected]
• The Power Purchase Agreement (explained above), is a particularly good option for SCHOOLS and COLLEGES that have the roof space and the electricity demand but don’t have the immediate funds, because you will usually either own the building or be staying in the same building for a long time. All the upfront costs of installing and maintaining the panels are paid for - you can then save money on your electricity bills by paying a lower per unit rate for your electricity secure in the knowledge that you are also reducing your carbon footprint. This is a great teaching point for your students also.

Helpful Videos

To find out more information on the Scheme then click on the green boxes below.

Please note: if you are hard of hearing or find it difficult to watch the videos then we have written transcripts available for all of them - just ask us for them on [email protected]

Any other Questions?

If, after looking through the information above, you have any other questions then please feel free to email us on [email protected]