As energy costs continue to strain household budgets, an innovative approach in the London borough of Hackney is proving that clean, locally generated electricity can be both affordable and community-owned. The initiative, led by Emergent Energy, represents the largest deployment of solar power in the social housing sector and operates without any government funding for capital costs.
Reg Platt, founder of Emergent Energy, has developed a model that exploits recent changes in electricity regulations permitting locally generated solar power to be supplied directly to nearby households. The system transforms the expansive flat roofs of council housing blocks into productive energy assets, creating what Platt describes as a network of clean power stations.
The mechanics of the programme demonstrate elegant simplicity. Hackney commissions Emergent to install solar panels across council flat rooftops. Emergent then manages the resulting array as a micro grid, billing residents directly for electricity consumption. When local demand falls below generation capacity, surplus power flows into the National Grid, generating revenue that helps reduce resident bills by approximately fifteen percent.
To date, the initiative has installed solar photovoltaic systems across twenty-eight blocks, benefiting eight hundred residents. According to Platt, the system pays for itself, creating a sustainable business model poised for national expansion. The approach earned recognition through the 2025 Ashden Award for Breaking Barriers.
The potential scale of this model is substantial. Of the five million flats in the United Kingdom, two million fall within the social housing sector. While not all properties will prove suitable for this approach, a significant proportion could accommodate similar installations, potentially bringing affordable solar power within reach of millions of British residents.
Platt's journey to this achievement followed an unconventional path. Raised in the Kentish outskirts of London, he initially pursued music and activism, influenced by environmental thought and the climate movement. After establishing a Transition Towns-style group in Brighton, he concluded that grassroots activism alone could not achieve change commensurate with the scale of the climate challenge.
This realisation prompted a career transition. Music became a hobby as Platt completed a master's degree in environment, science and society. Subsequent work with the Royal Society of Arts on personal carbon trading and with the Institute for Public Policy Research on climate and energy policy positioned him at the centre of energy discourse. His work influenced the Labour Party's 2015 manifesto.
The entrepreneurial leap came through personal influence. Meeting his wife, who operates her own fashion brand, exposed Platt to entrepreneurial ambition and possibility. After a period with green energy company OVO, he established Emergent in 2016, leveraging his accumulated energy expertise to work with local authorities on renewable projects.
The current energy landscape presents significant opportunities for disruption. The industry remains highly centralised even as technology becomes increasingly distributed and decentralised. Platt notes that artificial intelligence further accelerates these trends, creating conditions favourable for innovative approaches to energy generation and distribution.
The Hackney scheme provides compelling evidence against critics who dismiss renewable energy as economically impractical. By delivering solar power directly to lower-income communities while reducing their energy costs, the model demonstrates that environmental sustainability and economic accessibility need not conflict.
The broader community energy movement encompasses numerous initiatives beyond Emergent's work. People Owned Power, founded by energy entrepreneur Howard Johns, assists householders in using solar panels, batteries, heat pumps, insulation and electric vehicle chargers to reduce mains electricity reliance by an average of eighty percent. Some homes generate one hundred twenty percent of their needs, enabling them to export surplus power while achieving zero bills.
Across London, Repowering London supports community-owned solar projects from Brixton to Barnet. The organisation has assisted twelve local groups in forming community benefit societies. In Newham, which experiences among the highest fuel poverty rates in England, Community Energy Newham has installed solar panels on schools and libraries, generating power for pupils and users while creating employment opportunities for local residents.
These initiatives collectively illustrate a fundamental shift in energy generation and distribution. Rather than relying exclusively on large, centralised power stations, communities are demonstrating that clean energy can be local, affordable and owned by those who use it. As energy market volatility exposes the fragility of traditional supply chains, these community-led approaches offer resilience alongside environmental benefits.
The success of the Hackney model suggests that the future of energy may already be taking shape on the rooftops of social housing. With proof of concept established and a self-funding business model validated, the expansion of this approach could fundamentally alter how millions of British residents access and afford their electricity. The revolution in solar power, it appears, is not merely aspirational but operational and scalable.