Solar panels now powering council depot

Malvern Hills District Council has recently had 125 solar panels installed on the roof of its depot in Pendragon Close which is its base for all operational services such as refuse collection and street cleaning.  The installation was completed in just three days with minimum disruption to operations.

The panels mean that the council is now generating its own electricity and will also earn a lot of cash by exporting surplus power back to the National Grid which results in Feed in Tariff (FIT) and Export Tariff payments.

The cost of the installation will be recovered within 7 years and the panels will deliver a net saving of approximately £150K over the next 25 years. Since the panels were fitted, after only five days of mixed weather, they had already generated 785 kWhs of electricity earning the council £120. 

Councillor Paul Cumming, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Efficiency at MHDC said:
“The project was an important part of our Environmental Efficiency strategy and we are thrilled with the results.  We shall be making considerable savings on our electricity bills, at the same time substantially cutting our carbon emissions. We’d encourage organisations and businesses throughout the district to explore the opportunities on offer, especially as installation costs have dropped by a third since the beginning of this year.  

Over the first full year we estimate that we shall earn over £4,000 in FIT payments and make savings on our electricity bill of over £1,000.  We are determined to continue to find ways of cutting our costs and this sort of initiative is a perfect way to do that. The panels were installed by a local company, Solar Solutions Malvern, who did a fantastic job for us and were a pleasure to work with. ”

David McCann, Managing Director of Solar Solutions Malvern said:
“ We were thrilled to be awarded the contract for this work and it’s great that our local council is taking advantage of this sort of technology and also using local companies when possible.  There are so many advantages to installing solar panels – substantial savings on electricity bills together with highly reliable and very low maintenance equipment – it’s a no brainer really!”

Solar Solutions trades as a Social Enterprise which means they re-invest about 20% of their profits into community and charitable schemes.  As a result of the work for MHDC, they are donating £500 to a local community organisation.

David McCann continued:
“We have to make a profit to remain a sustainable company but we believe in putting something back into the local community.  We also reward staff with bonuses and a profit share which is fantastic for employee motivation.”