Energy-efficient and flicker-free - Selce's new share offer is all about LEDs

Selce is a community energy cooperative dedicated to powering a fairer future for SE London. Since we set up in 2014, we have helped thousands of households with their energy bills, and installed 12 solar arrays and ten lighting upgrades in community buildings through community share offers.

Our 6th share offer for our 11^th lighting site is now live, focusing on Marvels Lane Primary School in Lewisham.

Community energy and community share offers are most often associated with solar panels on community buildings, especially schools.

But this is our second share offer to focus on installing energy efficient, flicker-free LED lighting instead.

Here’s why it’s as important and effective - if not more so - than solar:

• LED lighting projects are easier to manage than solar because the technology is simpler and they don't depend on the sun coming out.
• They pay for themselves faster than solar projects. Plus, older more energy-hungry lighting is already being phased out – most buildings are already switching to LEDs room by room, but don't have the funds to do the whole building in one go.
• While we will continue to install solar and run solar share offers whenever we can,  lighting retrofit projects are less complex, and quicker and easier manage in the run up to install (for example, completing feasibility assessments, or drafting legal agreements). They need less "at risk" funding - and the non profit sector has recently seen a drop in funding availability.

Lots of buildings have lights in hard to reach places, for example high ceiling halls, or stairwells. So when old CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps) go out they can end up being left not working for years. It would need a crane or scaffold tower to replace them. The result is the building is left drab, miserable looking and unsafe.

In addition to the carbon and electricity cost savings, good quality LED lighting contributes towards improved general wellbeing of pupils and staff members.

Installing flicker-free lighting helps ease comfort for building users with ADHD and other learning difficulties, while better light levels and reduced glare help tackle migranes, eye strain and reduce trip hazards.

How does an LED share offer work?

In a nutshell, it acts as a pay as you save financing mechanism for the school. We are providing access to lighting that is better quality and up to around 70% cheaper.

(By comparison, in a solar share offer, we provide kilowatt hours of solar electricity that is cheaper than buying it directly from the grid).

We replace all the lighting for every single light fitting in the school. We estimate how much energy (measured in kilowatt hours) the new LED bulbs will save. And obviously, how much energy and cost the old system was responsible for.

So simply put, we can easily calculate how much the school is likely to start saving.

Find out more about Selce's 6th community share offer to fund the LED lighting project for Marvels Lane Primary School.

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