Will Hitchcock, a Good Energy customer and micro generator, uses his electric bike, powered by a solar PV array on the roof of his home, to commute to Colchester every day. The bike is only one part of a major family project to cut carbon.

“Having a young family has given me a clear sense of responsibility to make a difference to climate change,” says Will. “We left London, moved to a small village with a big sense of community, and refurbished our 19th-century cottage to be more energy efficient.”

Having retrofitted the cottage for energy efficiency, solar thermal panels were next on the list. Will continues: “They’ve been on the roof for five years and meet 60% of our family’s annual demand for hot water. A solar PV array was installed almost two years ago, costing £13K and providing about 70% of our electricity needs. “

With the family home both saving and generating electricity, Will saw opportunities for the local village too. He founded a Transition group, and decided to raise money for renewable energy projects by teaming up with other local people to create a community enterprise company which has already completed one project to install 84 solar PV panels on the village school.