Model village gets green upgrade with tiny heat pumps and solar panels
Renewable power firm Good Energy has launched the UK’s first sustainable model village, which it says has been renamed in honour of the failed Sunshine Bill.
The Chippenham-based B Corp-certified company has equipped Sunshine Place, the newest neighbourhood in Southsea Model Village in Portsmouth with handmade miniature heat pumps and solar panels, which it says showcases “the huge range” of UK homes that can be made more efficient with renewable technology.
There are 12 new homes outfitted with solar panels and heat pumps, as well as eight retrofitted existing homes and businesses.
The two-week installation, open to the public between 12th and 26th April, hopes to inspire visitors and drive action from politicians to recognise the role small green energy generators can have on the country’s clean power goals.
Good Energy has also written to MPs close to the issue of the clean energy transition, calling on them to revisit the now-defunct Sunshine Bill, which would have mandated solar as standard on all new homes.
Good Energy has called for more funding to be made available for lower income households for solar and heat pumps, to make access to clean technologies fairer.
Dotted around the Sunshine Place site are handmade scale models of the nation’s most vocal renewable champions and sceptics, including Stephen Morgan, Labour MP for Portsmouth South, a proponent of extra energy bill support for Portsmouth families.
Green champions Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy, Max Wilkinson, Lib Dem MP for Cheltenham and the original member to raise the Sunshine Bill in Parliament also feature, while vocal detractor of green energy Nigel Farage, Reform MP for Clacton, has his own model.
Nigel Pocklington, CEO at Good Energy, says: “Small changes can have a big impact. Sunshine Place demonstrates what a greener, cleaner future could look like in the UK. As a nation, we need rapid adoption of sustainable energy solutions, but we also know that making that leap is a big decision for consumers, especially considering ever-increasing energy bills.
“Helping people understand their options, the grants available, the money they can save and their potential contribution to the nationwide push towards net zero is what has guided this feel-good campaign and installation.”
Mark Wilson and Dean Wilson, owners of Southsea Model Village, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Good Energy on the construction of Sunshine Place. To be able to support such an important message and use the village to showcase what a sustainably powered future could look like is a great honour.”
