Solar panels project to help power city council buildings

Senior councillors in Leeds will meet on Wednesday to consider a scheme to install solar-powered panels on a number of its buildings across the city.

The sun-harnessing photovoltaic (PV) panels would eventually pay for themselves through savings on energy and cash earned through the power they produce, members of Leeds City Council’s executive committee will be told.

They would then go on to provide lasting savings and protection against rises in energy costs and help towards the council’s target of reducing its own and the city’s carbon footprint by 40 per cent by 2021.

A selection of different buildings, ranging from museums and leisure centres through to children’s homes and schools, works depots and offices will be assessed for their suitability for the solar savings.

The council’s executive member for environmental services, Mark Dobson, said: “This is an opportunity to unlock the potential of our buildings to play a significant role in reducing the city’s carbon emissions. There are so many advantages to taking up this scheme whatever way you look at it.

“It would allow us access to very low-cost electricity while actually earning cash and would eventually pay for itself.

“Add all this to the obvious benefits to our environment in Leeds from one of the greenest ways possible to produce energy and it’s a winner all round.”

Installation of the panels under the national Feed-In Tariff (FITS) scheme would mean that energy suppliers would pay the council for every kilowatt of electricity produced. This would happen regardless of whether the power is used on site or sold back to the national grid.

Councillors are to be asked to approve loan funding of up to £3m for the scheme, which would pay for itself within around 10-12 years at today’s energy prices. Anticipated energy price rises will reduce the payback time significantly.

There are added advantages in that the panels would then continue to earn FITS payments for 25 years from installation and provide very low-cost power for at least the same period.