COUNCIL chiefs at Warrington have approved a £5.25million capital investment to provide solar energy panels on 1,500 properties and three sheltered housing schemes.
The project is in partnership with Golden Gates Housing Trust and will mean tenants will save an estimated £233 per year on their energy bills. 
The solar photovoltaic panels capture the sun’s energy and convert the sunlight into electricity.
In July 2011 the council introduced a pilot scheme with Golden Gates and installed 623 properties with solar panels which proved very successful. This will now be rolled out further – with funding from the council’s capital programme.
Cllr Russ Bowden (pictured), the council’s lead member for corporate resources and assignments, said: “There is a cost of living crisis across the country and this scheme is one of those win win opportunities.
“People have been facing substantial increases in energy bills over the last few years and this project will help to reduce the cost of these energy bills.
“The council will receive income which will fund the scheme and it will also provide local employment and training with four electrical apprentices, two tenant liaison officers and additional related job opportunities are expected.
“The council is facing a challenging financial climate and in these times of austerity
measures introduced by the government this project can only go ahead because it is self-financing.”
As reported by Warrington-Worldwide last week, the scheme involves Golden Gates purchasing and installing the solar
heating equipment and the council then buying the equipment from Golden
Gates.
Over a period of 20 years, the scheme should achieve a surplus
of £1,390,082 – and tenants of the houses will also benefit from lower
energy bills.
The council will borrow £5,250,288 to fund the installation of the solar heating.
Councillors
have been warned that over a 20 year period, variations in the amount
of sunlight – which powers the systems – can be expected. But the
business case is based on long term historical weather data and weather
trends suggest excessive cloud cover is unlikely.
