The South West has been extensively using solar panels to help produce enough power to run water and sewage treatment works in the surrounding counties, according to leading reports.
South West Water has put together photovoltaic (PV) cells at 17 of its sites which are spread out across Devon and Cornwall after receiving £3 million in funding.
The state of the art PV cells will be used alongside the existing solar panels installed at six South West Water sites last year,
which will bring the total number of solar panels used to 23.
At each of the sites, the south west water company has put into place 261 panels which measure up at 1.58m by 0.81m. Each set of solar panels, constitutes the size of one fifth of a football pitch and produce enough energy to be able to supply about 50 houses or 50 kW of energy.
Furthermore, at four of the sites, the solar panels are even able to generate 100kW of energy which is enough to supply over 100 houses.
The power generated by these solar panels will be enough to ensure that the treatment works have enough power to operate effectively and therefore would lead to massive savings in electricity bills.
James Pearce, project manager for South West Water’s H5O partnership, declared: “The solar panels are part of South West Water’s drive to reduce its carbon footprint and help combat climate change. The company already operates hydro-electric and biogas plants and a wind turbine, and the new solar panels will help to further develop our renewable energy capability.
“Generating renewable energy for use on South West Water’s operational sites reduces electricity costs and will have a positive impact on South West Water’s customers’ bills into the future.”
This follows an announcement made by the construction group, Kier who revealed earlier in the week that it had won five new contracts worth up to £4 million to put solar panels into operation for local authorities all over the UK, including those in Devon.
The main objective of the projects is to help the firm’s clients to make savings on their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint.
Kier has already put PV solar panels into operation in four buildings in mid Devon.
Kier’s energy solutions business managing director, Nigel Sheppard, stated that more and more companies and public sector organisations were moving towards using renewable energy technology and energy efficiency measures in order to reduce their impact on the environment.
“The government’s energy efficiency initiatives have presented organisations with an opportunity to improve their environmental credentials in a financially viable way,” he stated.
“The installation of PV panels is just one way businesses can reduce their energy bills, which when multiplied by the number of properties they have on their books, adds up to significant savings.”
