Ashwater rooftop solar video – transcript

Various aerial and close up shots of the village provide a backdrop to the video.

Text overlay: Ashwater in Devon is a tiny village – population 673. But it has a giant green footprint. Faced with rising costs at the new parish hall, they installed rooftop solar panels – not only earning money for power sold back to the grid, but also preserving the beautiful views.

Ivan Buxton from CPRE Devon then speaks:

Ivan: ‘We’re now raising more money to try and get another set of panels because of the massive hike in electricity costs.’

Text overlay: The panels provide power and lighting for activities like the table tennis club and the next door village shop.

Ronald Knight, a farmer, speaks.

Ronald: ‘I’ve got no problem on roofs. I mean all buildings, farm buildings, all new buildings should have them on.’

Evanda Hill, a villager, then speaks:

Evanda: ‘It keeps all the costs down. So you know, that’s the critical part isn’t it, with this new energy crisis. So yes it’s a huge positive.’

Text overlay: There are also panels at a brownfield site on the village outskirts.

Ivan: ‘One of the things we discovered very early on is that a lot people in the village don’t like the idea of farmland being turned over to industrial use or energy use. It’s there for feeding people. And this is a very good example of a small development right next to the village, from which the villagers benefit.’