Work has started on Fair Isle to give the 55 inhabitants a permanent supply of electricity using wind and solar energy with battery storage ALAMYTwo centuries after Michael Faraday invented the electric motor and almost 100 years since Stanley Baldwin established the national grid, Britain’s most remote community will finally plug in to a 24-hour electricity supply this autumn. On Fair Isle, 25 miles south of Shetland, all 55 inhabitants will discover the simple pleasures of instant hot water at any time, thanks to clever use of renewable technology. For a low-lying windswept island, adrift between the North Sea and the Atlantic, such comforts are not to be sniffed at. The prospect of keeping the heating on overnight arrives courtesy of a £2.65 million electricity supply scheme comprising three wind turbines, a solar array and battery storage, combined in a new high-voltage network across the island. The technology could…

Source: The Times April 25, 2018 22:52 UTC