Solar Roof Project - Leading the Way
Our Solar Roof Project resulted in St Silas becoming the first listed parish church in England to have a new roof complete with visible solar tiles
Pioneers in solar energy
In 2010 St Silas Church became the first listed parish church in England to have a new roof complete with visible photovoltaic tiles, making us pioneers in solar energy.
News Articles
Here are links to articles which appeared in the press and on the web. Please note, just the south-facing side of the roof was fitted with solar tiles, the rest being new slate.
Low Carbon Economy 24th April 2009 Click here
BBC London News 17th April 2010 Click here
Islington Tribune 14th May 2010 Click here
Environmental website edie.net 14th May 2010 Click here
Christian Today 19th May 2010 Click here
Environment Times 21st May 2010 Click here
The financial challenge
The approximate costs for the our Big Solar Roof Project were :
£190,000 roof replacement and stonework repairs
£130,000 solar technology
£50,000 professional fees
£370,000 TOTAL
Meeting the financial challenge
In addition to community fundraising and generous donations from individuals, we acknowledge generous funding from the following charitable trusts, foundations and statutory funders, without which the Big Solar Roof Project would not have been possible :
£103,200 Islington Climate Change
£65,484 Low Carbon Buildings Programme
£34,000 Richard Cloudesley's Charity (2008-2010)
£10,000 Garfield Weston Foundation
£10,000 Number 1 Trust Fund
£5,000 John Booth Charitable Foundation
£3,000 Islington West Area Community Fund
£2,000 Edith Thain Trust
£2,000 Lady Elizabeth Hatton Trust
£2,000 London Heritage Trust
£1,000 All Churches Trust
£1,000 Church Union
£1,000 Clerkenwell Charities
£1,000 Morris Charitable Trust
In order for the work to go ahead we needed to borrow £100,000 from the London Diocesan Fund. This loan was mostly repaid between 2011 and 2013 by further contributions from Richard Cloudesley's Charity. (2011 - £17,500; 2012 - £20,000; 2013 - £20,000)
Solar power - an opportunity
About the time that our roof problems became acute, our young people, community hall users and church members embarked on an educational project to reduce our carbon footprint, both in the building and at home. The project initially ran for six weeks, in partnership with Islington Council Green Living Centre. Having learnt about our impact on the environment, we embarked upon a greener approach. The community made energy-saving pledges, exchanged old light bulbs for energy-efficient bulbs and an energy audit was carried out on our building to help us look to the future.
We discovered we could upgrade our heating and lighting requirements with the use of advanced solar-voltaic tiles incorporated within our roof structure. Churches have big south-facing roofs. They're perfect for generating solar power. The latest solar technology is completely different from what you may previously have seen. In fact they are so well disguised to look like real tiles that you may well have seen it and not noticed! If we include the right proportion of solar technology in our new Welsh slate roof, as well as stopping the flooding and the cold draughts, we can generate an estimated 47% of our 26,400KWh/year power requirements and make predicted savings of 7,027 kg CO2 per annum. The UK Government is committed to an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 and, as the Diocese of London has said "projects like Saint Silas Church's are paramount to the challenge to combat climate change". Just think how green that would make us! But over and above this, we want to promote the environmental benefit and cost savings of going green. As a good example to other community organisations we could promote solar technology whilst enhancing our community space for local people.
In December 2008 the Diocesan Advisory Committee agreed to our scheme and in March 2009 Islington Council granted us planning permission.
In 2010 St Silas Church became the first listed parish church in England to have a new roof complete with visible photovoltaic tiles, making us pioneers in solar energy.
News Articles
Here are links to articles which appeared in the press and on the web. Please note, just the south-facing side of the roof was fitted with solar tiles, the rest being new slate.
Low Carbon Economy 24th April 2009 Click here
BBC London News 17th April 2010 Click here
Islington Tribune 14th May 2010 Click here
Environmental website edie.net 14th May 2010 Click here
Christian Today 19th May 2010 Click here
Environment Times 21st May 2010 Click here
The financial challenge
The approximate costs for the our Big Solar Roof Project were :
£190,000 roof replacement and stonework repairs
£130,000 solar technology
£50,000 professional fees
£370,000 TOTAL
Meeting the financial challenge
In addition to community fundraising and generous donations from individuals, we acknowledge generous funding from the following charitable trusts, foundations and statutory funders, without which the Big Solar Roof Project would not have been possible :
£103,200 Islington Climate Change
£65,484 Low Carbon Buildings Programme
£34,000 Richard Cloudesley's Charity (2008-2010)
£10,000 Garfield Weston Foundation
£10,000 Number 1 Trust Fund
£5,000 John Booth Charitable Foundation
£3,000 Islington West Area Community Fund
£2,000 Edith Thain Trust
£2,000 Lady Elizabeth Hatton Trust
£2,000 London Heritage Trust
£1,000 All Churches Trust
£1,000 Church Union
£1,000 Clerkenwell Charities
£1,000 Morris Charitable Trust
In order for the work to go ahead we needed to borrow £100,000 from the London Diocesan Fund. This loan was mostly repaid between 2011 and 2013 by further contributions from Richard Cloudesley's Charity. (2011 - £17,500; 2012 - £20,000; 2013 - £20,000)
Solar power - an opportunity
About the time that our roof problems became acute, our young people, community hall users and church members embarked on an educational project to reduce our carbon footprint, both in the building and at home. The project initially ran for six weeks, in partnership with Islington Council Green Living Centre. Having learnt about our impact on the environment, we embarked upon a greener approach. The community made energy-saving pledges, exchanged old light bulbs for energy-efficient bulbs and an energy audit was carried out on our building to help us look to the future.
We discovered we could upgrade our heating and lighting requirements with the use of advanced solar-voltaic tiles incorporated within our roof structure. Churches have big south-facing roofs. They're perfect for generating solar power. The latest solar technology is completely different from what you may previously have seen. In fact they are so well disguised to look like real tiles that you may well have seen it and not noticed! If we include the right proportion of solar technology in our new Welsh slate roof, as well as stopping the flooding and the cold draughts, we can generate an estimated 47% of our 26,400KWh/year power requirements and make predicted savings of 7,027 kg CO2 per annum. The UK Government is committed to an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 and, as the Diocese of London has said "projects like Saint Silas Church's are paramount to the challenge to combat climate change". Just think how green that would make us! But over and above this, we want to promote the environmental benefit and cost savings of going green. As a good example to other community organisations we could promote solar technology whilst enhancing our community space for local people.
In December 2008 the Diocesan Advisory Committee agreed to our scheme and in March 2009 Islington Council granted us planning permission.
