Published March 16, 2017 at 13:19
In just over four years, the Council has generated £67k in savings from Solar Panels.
In 2012 Rossendale Council installed solar panels on the roof of its Futures Park Offices, in those 4 years and 4 months we have generated a total savings/income so far of just under £70k.
Based on this rate we will have paid for their installation just after October 2019 meaning that the £112k investment will be retuned back in just six years nine months.
For every kWh of electricity we produce via the collar panels we get the feed in tariff (FIT) of just over 12.14p. So far, we have produced 305,205kWh of electricity form our panels, which equates to generating just over £37k.
Out of the 305,205kWh we have produced, we have used 246,519kWh rather than buying from the grid at 12p per kWh therefore saving us just under £30k.
The reaming 58,731kWh we have exported to the grid at 4.64p with a further income of £2.7k.
Phil Seddon, the Council’s Head of Finance and Property Services welcomed the solar panels success to date;
“It is excellent news that our investment in solar panels paying off so well. We are committed to energy saving measures and we see the importance of realising savings for the Council through our energy usage. As we move forward into tighter budgets the savings these panels are bringing cannot be underestimated.”
The Civic Hall and Whitworth Leisure Centre had solar panels fitted in winter 2016, usage figures for those will be available after they’ve been in place for a year.