VILLAGERS invested £12,000 in a local solar farm scheme on its launch night.

Now the community group behind Southill Solar in Charlbury have two months to find the rest of the £3m they need.

More than 100 residents attended the launch party for Southill Solar at Charlbury Memorial Hall on Wednesday night.

Sustainable Charlbury invited locals to buy between £200 and £100,000 worth of shares with the opportunity to get a five per cent return on investment over 25 years.

Group member Tim Crisp said that after a “fantastic” launch night he was confident the group would find the rest of the money needed.

The 55-year-old father of three added: “It went really well, we had a packed hall and there was lots of enthusiasm.”

The group needs to raise £3m by April 8 in order to build the 20-acre solar plant on the Cornbury Estate near Charlbury and get it up and running by September 6.

Under the government’s ‘feed-in tariff’ scheme, low-carbon energy schemes such as solar farms or hydroelectric plants are paid a certain rate for the electricity they produce.

However, the government is reducing this amount, which is paid out by energy suppliers, and limiting the number of installations supported.

To qualify for the former rate, the Charlbury solar farm must be producing electricity by September 6.

The group has already spent £50,000 from investors in developing the scheme and has had another £80,000 pledged.

Mr Crisp said he expected to be able to raise up to £1m from residents in Charlbury and nearby villages, and the rest from non-local investors.

The low-carbon group are hoping that recent dramatic weather across the UK including the wettest and warmest December on record would help persuade people that climate change was really happening and that renewable energy schemes such as theirs could help stop irreversible change.

The solar farm would operate for 25 years and the energy it generates will be sold back to the national grid for profit.

The group expects the plant will generate 4.56MW of electricity – enough to power the equivalent of the whole of Charlbury, 1,400 homes.

A portion of the profits will also be given away for local community benefit.