The Council

Thursday, July 28 2011, 16:25 GMT

Council installs solar panels to generate energy and save money 

The Council is embarking on an exciting programme of installing Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on some of its buildings to generate electricity and reduce carbon emissions. PV solar power is amongst the fastest growing renewable energy source in the UK. This is due in part to Government subsidies or Feed in Tariff’ (FITs) that is currently available.

The Council is taking advantage of this Government backed FIT scheme which was introduced in April 2010. The scheme is set to pay tariff payments for 25 years following installation.  A key benefit of the scheme will be the generation of new income from both the Feed in Tariff and through the sale of any surplus electricity back to the national grid providing the Council with an annual income. 

The first building to benefit from solar panels is Fleming Park Leisure Centre. 288 solar panels have been installed on the leisure centre roof and are set to generate over 62,000 kwh per year that equates to around £23,000 - £25,000 of income to the Council.  The average home uses around 3,300 kWh’s per year so the scheme is expected to generate enough to power around 18 homes for a year.  By producing energy in this renewable form, the scheme will avoid producing around 34,000 kg of CO₂ per year which is equivalent to an average car travelling over around 102,000 miles.

The Council will be looking for opportunities to work in partnership with neighbouring authorities and other public organisations to share knowledge, experience and provide support to other agencies wishing to embark on installing PV panels on, for instance, other community or public buildings.

Cabinet Lead for the Environment Cllr Louise Bloom “The Council has an excellent track record of leading on climate change and that is a really great project that allows us to use one of our buildings to generate renewable energy and reduce CO₂ emissions“.  

There are initially over 20 other sites throughout the borough that have been selected to undergo further investigation for structural integrity and suitability for PV installation.

The Fleming Park scheme will be officially opened by Chris Huhne MP Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change early in September 2011.

The Council will be looking for opportunities to work in partnership with neighbouring authorities and other public organisations to share knowledge, experience and provide support to other agencies wishing to embark on installing PV panels on, for instance, other community or public buildings. If you are a local business or organisation and would like to know more about how you could benefit from installing photovoltaic technology visit http://www.eastleigh.gov.uk/solarenergy.

Residents can also benefit from the Feed in Tariff – currently paying around 43p per kWh that the panels generate - for a guaranteed 25 years from installation.  This means that for an array of panels rated at 2.5 kW, an income and savings of up to about £1000 per year could be expected.  Further information can be obtained via the Eastleigh website under Home Energy Savings www.eastleigh.gov.uk/housing/home-energy-saving or the Energy Saving Trust website www.energysavingtrust.org.uk