Councils urged to create income from solar power

Haslemere Primary pupils like solar it seems..

Local Authorities are being urged to put their buildings to use to generate an income stream, from solar electricity. The Leader of Merton Borough Council London, Councillor Stephen Alambritis, and Councillor Andrew Judge made the call at Haslemere Primary School as the borough announced it will become a local power provider; installing solar power from Solarcentury on three of its schools. The solar will not only provide clean renewable energy to the schools but also generate an income and provide savings; collectively around £8,000 a year for the council for 25 years.

The council is assessing all of its estate for solar suitability with a view to providing an income to invest in further energy saving measures across its properties. This follows the Government's scheme to encourage local power generation earlier this year; the 'Feed-in tariff' guarantees a price for ren

Merton Council, Haslemere school and Solarcentury celebrate the school's new electricity source.

ewable energy, meaning communities can now be paid to create clean power.

Councils are financing solar in different ways. They are either self funding, leasing the equipment or offering roofs to host solar in return for free electricity. Merton's Low Carbon Zone pilot will own two of the systems, on Haslemere and Lonesome Primary Schools, and will host solar on the third school roof, Benedict Primary, to receive electricity savings.

Leader of Merton Council, Councillor Stephen Alambritis said: "I'm pleased to give my commitment and this boroughs assurance that we fully intend to roll this initiative [Solar4Schools] out to all our schools in the borough. The initiative is very beneficial for our children's education and during these difficult times it's a good income stream for the borough. Merton has a tradition of innovation in the environment field and this initiative closely follows on from The Merton Rule."

Councilor Andrew Judge added: "Councils have an urgent responsibility to make the very best of their assets. Whilst making savings, we should all look to generate income however we can. Here at Merton we see the very best and most simple way to create an income is by generating our own clean power. That is why we aim to have a programme of installing solar power on our buildings, starting with schools. The council will receive a guaranteed income for 25 years and our schools will make savings on their electricity bills whilst educating children on the importance of sustainable practice. Opportunities are also there for our homes and other council buildings. It's win win, and we urge every council to consider the opportunities from the Feed-in tariff.”"

The councils’ call reinforces that of Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in August last year: "For too long, Whitehall's dogmatic reliance on 'big' energy has stood in the way of the vast potential role of local authorities in the UK's green energy revolution. I've today written to all councils urging them to take advantage and lead a local energy revolution. This is a vital step to making community renewable projects commercially viable, to bring in long-term income to benefit local areas, and to secure local acceptance for low carbon energy projects."

A rather wintery photo of Haselmere pupils and the solar team in the playground. Solar to the top left, apparently!

The borough is working with the Solar4Schools programme, established by solar energy company Solarcentury, which has now helped over 250 UK schools go solar. Solarcentury, the UK’s leading solar energy company, encourages education in environmental issues and renewable energy and provides in-school and online displays as well as the solar technology. The company has been helping councils and businesses across the country go solar for over 12 years; it was recently named the UK’s fastest growing private energy company.

Merton council was an early pioneer when it implemented the Merton Rule, a policy to encourage local electricity generation. Other councils working on large scale solar roll out include Birmingham and Wrexham; the latter plans to equip a third of its housing stock with solar to generate both an extra £1 million income a year and to reduce the energy bills for its tenants.

Project manager for Merton's first Low Carbon Zone Ross Mitchell said: "As part of our sustainable energy programme for Merton, we seized the chance to have solar panels installed on our Low Carbon Zone schools. This is an ideal opportunity to try out the Feed-in tariff. Our idea behind the project is to use the money saved from electricity generation and income from the Feed-in tariff to financially support the installation of other energy and carbon saving measures across the borough."

Derry, Newman, CEO, Solarcentury said: "Solar electricity is a very positive investment for schools, as it introduces an income for the school or Local Authority as well as cutting C02 emissions and electricity costs. Schools are also a great place for solar - they are mainly occupied in the day when the solar energy system is producing the most power. As local authorities face tighter budgets, this is an opportunity for them to create a long term revenue stream as well as supporting the education of tomorrow's citizens on the importance of renewable energy for a sustainable future."

At present only 0.01% of electricity in England is generated by local authority-owned renewables, despite the scope that exists to install projects on their land and buildings. In Germany the equivalent figure is 100 times higher.