A project to install solar panels at Ceredigion County Councilās Canolfan Rheidol offices in Aberystwyth has been completed, and hopes to save the Authority Ā£10,000 per year.
The solar panels were installed by Egnida ā specialists in energy, renewables and transport – on the building at Parc y LLyn in December 2015 and will provide 49.75kW of energy which will supply electricity to the Councilās offices.
The installation was completed in two parts, with 15kW of solar panels installed on the biomass plant room roof, and 34.75kW on the office buildingās flat roof. In total, 199 individual solar panels generating 250W each were installed.
Councillor Alun Williams, Cabinet Member for Transport, Waste and Carbon Management, said: āThe most impressive part of the scheme – the solar panel array on the flat roof of Canolfan Rheidol – isn’t visible from the ground. Nevertheless, the scheme adds significantly to what is by now a large, and still growing, portfolio of energy saving and renewable energy initiatives which help to minimise the Council’s carbon emissions and save money at this financially challenging time.”
The installation of solar panels at Canolfan Rheidol will help lower the Councilās energy usage and carbon emissions, as well as providing a Feed in Tariff income. This project was funded as part of the Councilās Invest to Save Scheme and will provide total combined annual energy savings and income in the region of Ā£10,000 per annum, with a project payback in the region of eight years.
Canolfan Rheidol was opened in 2009, as part of Ceredigion County Councilās policy of rationalising its property asset portfolio. In 2010 the building was awarded the CLAW Sustainability Award, and it was also the winner of the Breeam Awards Wales in the same year.
Savings from this scheme will be included as part of the Councilās Carbon Management Plan, that commits the Council to reduce carbon emissions by at least 15% by the year 2016/17, against a 2011/12 baseline year.
For more information about the plan please visitĀ http://www.ceredigion.gov.uk/English/Your-Council/strategiesplansandperformances/Pages/Carbon-Management.aspx
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