Forest Row .org Community Forums

I am keen to investigate if we can create windpower in Forest Row as a source of energy to add to fast depleting energy derived from fossil fuels.

Hi Marc, As you know I am also keen on this.. we need feedback from around the village and also someone to establish how viable turbines would be, optimum siting, size etc. 

There is an interesting article in New Scientist about vanadium 'flow' batteries as a way of storing wind power. 

The whole financing and sale of the power needs to be sorted (best to sell direct rather than back to grid)... once you have actually worked out if and where a community might want to put one!  Does any FR resident have any experience in this sort of thing?  It would certainly be great to get a range of views from around the village...

I suspect that the only viable places to generate wind power will be on the top of the hills. To the south is Ashdown Forest which may be hard to get approval at this stage in the general awareness. Which leaves the north which has more potential as there is land owned by Tablehurst.

However I would say that the question that we should be asking is what is the best way for us to generate more of our own power. Members of Transition Town Lewes for example have started an initiative to block buy and install solar panels. More details here:
http://transitiontowns.org/Lewes/LocalInitiatives

In terms of getting funding and approval for a project this approach probably is more viable.


My suggestion is to form an energy group to look at the options.

Completely agree with Mike re an alternative energy group - happy to form once May 3rd is over..!  Suspect that it may be other techonologies - more wood chip or farm biomass that might be the most economic. 

Re wind, I have been asking about and have met more positive response locally than I expected (remember I live north of Ashurst Wood and we are quite high and windy up here compared to FR village itself so perhaps why more on my mind...)

It would be good to have more 'solar awarenesss' - my hot water tubes installed by Elemental in the village have been fantastic - especially in this strangely sunny April we are having - conventional hot water heating completely unnecessary  :).

PV is great if  you can get someone else to pay for it - so clubbing together and going for a grant sounds like the right approach!