Couple who slept on roof extend energy project

Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell slept on their roof for 23 days

A couple who slept on their roof for 23 days to raise money for solar panels for homes on their street say they are now extending their project.

Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell raised £113,000 last year after they braced rain, hail and snow by sleeping on the roof of their home in Lymouth Road, Walthamstow.

Temperatures reached below zero most nights.

Fifteen houses on the street have panels installed, the aim is for 35.

Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell slept on their roof for 23 days

It is part of their plan to help inspire others to reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

Rabia Mir, who lives a few doors down from the couple, said the panels had reduced her energy bills "significantly".

"I'd say at least a few hundred pounds, if not more," she said.

They were installed last July, which happened to have been the "hottest day, on the sunniest day of the year".

"We spoke to the energy company and they said the energy that we'd been using for the few days that they'd been installed was entirely on the solar panels so we hadn't used any of our own energy that we normally would on the grid."

Now the couple have set their sights on the rest of the street.

Some 15 homes on the street have solar panels installed

It is a project with a lot of support; many homes on the street have posters in their front windows with the words "Power Station".

Another impact of the project: bringing the community together.

"Solar panels might make a difference to bills, but also what it means when a community comes together and takes action," said Ms Powell.

The couple hope other communities will replicate their project

Mr Edelstyn added: "The beauty we've discovered when we were flyering up and down the street, knocking on people's doors - the horror of knocking on someone's door to speak to them when you don't know them - was this lovely feeling that ensued of getting to know neighbours and finding out that you're on the same page.

"Now we've got the situation where we walk up and down the street and everyone seems to know each other and doing other things."

Children at their local school are also supportive of the project

They hope their story can be used as a template to inspire other streets across the country to crowdfund and install their own solar panels.

Last month, with the support of the organisation Solar For Schools, they also helped their local school, Barn Croft Primary School, install solar panels.

Sanchi Singh, from Solar for Schools, said in a cost of living crisis, savings could be made and put towards vital educational services.

She said in one year, a primary school they had worked with had saved £6,700.

"Over the solar panels' lifetime of 25 years, it's expected to save £150,000 for the school and around 600 tonnes of carbon," she said.

Mr Edelstyn and Ms Powell have also recorded a Christmas single, featuring their neighbours and local school children to raise even more money.

"We are trying - through the story telling of one street, all of the different characters and history of this one place - to show, actually we can have the power to make change," said Ms Powell.