Oakapple, a renewable energy firm, has begun its second round of crowd funding for its latest solar project.
They have already raised a reported £374,000 of the £415,000 goal in the second round, and are beginning to plan for a third round of £500,000.
The company, based in Leeds, has been crowdfunding using the investment site Abundance Generation, which allows people to invest in green projects. The money they raise will be used in the next phase of their installations of roof-mounted PV systems for a house building company.
Oakapple Two has raised almost two-thirds of its goal in a week, much like the Oakapple One project which in the summer of 2013 raised £480,000 in a little over a month.
Oakapple Two’s funds will help buy 416kWp of solar PV installations to be installed on residential roofs, including new apartments.
At present, 13 systems are operating and producing 154kWp. They hope to have the rest installed by May 2015. Oakapple Two will own the systems.
Investors in Oakapple two via Abundance Generation will receive interest income each year, which will increase annually 3.52%.
Investors will receive their income in addition to the repayment of their money by cash returns.
Phil Taylor, chairman of Oakapple Renewable Energy, stated: “As the contract is extendable to further sites we are planning to launch a third tranche of crowd funding through Abundance for a similar amount.”
Oakapple Berwickshire was the largest crowdfunded solar project and was launched in October, having now raised £950,000 of the £3.1million goal. They hope to install 749 roof mounted PV systems for the Berwickshire Housing Association.