Edinburgh Community Solar Co-operative raises capital from the public to place solar panel installations on City of Edinburgh Council buildings (schools, leisure centres and other council owned buildings). Through our Community Fund, our profits are allocated as grants to community causes that both align with the co-op’s objectives and benefit the people of Edinburgh.
Applications
Applications for the latest round of our community benefit grants closed in late summer 2025 with 15 eligible applications. Information about the awards available had been shared widely including through SCVO’s funder-finder and The Edinburgh Minute.
The ECSC assessment group (a sub-group of our Board) recommended funding 14 of these applications with a value of £20,000 to the Board of Trustees and these were approved in September. Click here to see the 2025 grant recipients.
The grant programme will re-open next Spring. If you are interested in applying next year you can still read the guidance below. You can email communitybenefit@edinburghsolar.coop if you have any questions about the Community Fund.
Grants are now available for community-focused organisations in Edinburgh that wish to:
- purchase equipment
- provide additional activities
- provide education to reduce carbon
- install small-scale renewable to their premises
- make environmental improvements to their buildings
Introduction
Edinburgh Community Solar Co-operative raises capital from the public to place solar panel installations on City of Edinburgh Council buildings (schools, leisure centres and other council owned buildings). As well as paying annual returns to our investors, we allocate part of our profits to community causes that benefit the people of Edinburgh.
Applicants can apply for a minimum of £1000 and a maximum of £3000. Eligible organisations can apply for the full cost of a project or a smaller contribution to a larger project. The average grant is likely to be in the region of £1500.Funds for larger projects will not be released until the applicant can demonstrate that they have the remainder of the funds in place.
Applications are now open with a closing date of 31st July 2023.
Eligibility
a) Schools and Leisure Centres in Edinburgh
b) Registered charities or community organisations (with a bank account) operating within Edinburgh with a particular focus on: – Children and young people
– Older people (55+)
– The environment and sustainability
– Outdoor education
– Sports Clubs
Please note that organisations that have received funding from Edinburgh Community Solar Community Co-operative are not eligible to apply for this round of funding.
Purpose of the grant
a) Environment/sustainability education
b) Environmental improvements to buildings used by communities
c) Health, well-being and inclusion (for example community gardens, healthy eating programmes, or
improved access to facilities for people with additional mobility needs)
d) Small-scale renewables/activities that reduce carbon
e) Initiatives that address fuel poverty
Expectations
Successful applicants will be expected to:
- Provide evidence of spend on the grant as specified in the application (including any variance)
- Complete a short impact report and a short video (max 3 mins) about their project, which can be used to develop a case study by ECSC for its website, publicity and other communications purposes, including photo images.
Information about the awards we made in previous years and examples of the videos submitted can be found on our list of Previous Recipients.
If you would like to apply for a grant, please download our short application form.
The closing date for applications is 31st July 2023. Decisions will be made in late August 2023.
Enquiries and completed application forms should be sent to: communitybenefit@edinburghsolar.coop