Peterborough City Council is hoping to break a record with its new solar panel project.
Work has started to install solar panels on a building in the city and the council believes it may become the biggest roof mounted solar power scheme in the country when it is completed.
The panels are being placed on the former Freemans building on Ivatt Way, Westwood as part of a wider scheme that will also see panels on the roofs of both the Town Hall in Bridge Street and the Regional Pool in Bishops Road, Peterborough.
The full scheme will cost about £5.7 million to set up. Energy generated from the panels will be sold to power local homes and businesses, and the set-up cost should be paid back over 25 years. The project is then expected to make £300,000 profit a year.
Councillor Samantha Dalton, the city council’s cabinet member for environment capital, said: “The panels will not only allow the council to reduce its own energy costs but also gives us the opportunity to set up a limited company to trade energy to domestic and business users.
“The government has recently changed the scheme, which reduces the amount of money it will pay organisations for generating income through selling energy unless the panels are installed by the end of July.
“The initial scheme, totalling £350,000, will build 1,500 solar panels on the roof of the building by the end of July, which will equate to about 55 kilowatts of power. This will generate enough energy to power 12 homes – or 1,000 computer screens – for a year.”
Work to install the solar panels on the Regional Pool is due to finish in September 2011 and the Town Hall by October 2011.