Alresford Town Council saving money through solar power (From This is Hampshire)
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Alresford Town Council saving money through solar power
9:30am Saturday 14th July 2012 in Hampshire Chronicle
By Andrew Napier
Solar panels are now on ARC
Alresford civic chiefs have started to reap the benefits of solar power.
Whilst the rest of the population ask "what sun?" Cllr Roy Gentry told the town council meeting that the solar panels installed on Alresford Recreation Centre earlier this year had already brought in financial benefit of £764 in March/April and a net saving in electricity of £130.
Comments(7)
raised eyebrows
says...
8:58am Tue 17 Jul 12
Yves1977
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3:50pm Wed 18 Jul 12
The town council has agreed to borrow some £33,000 towards around 80 solar panels.
"It is a no-brainer to put solar panels on the roof," said councillor Roy Gentry.
The pay-back period is around nine years and then they will generate £4,100 a year in guaranteed income and energy-saving for the council tax payers."
Goldenwight
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5:42pm Wed 18 Jul 12
SunSmart Energy
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10:35am Thu 19 Jul 12
Goldenwight wrote:I think they may be on course to do a bit better than that actually. We can't be sure if the figures Cllr Gentry gives are for the whole of March and April but even assuming they are, the centre has made income and savings of £764 + £130 over two months. March and April are usually pretty average months for a solar installation, summer will see higher generation and winter lower so we can confidently use these as an average and multiply by 6 to get a good prediction of the year's income.
If the cost was £33,000, to recoup this over 9 years would require savings/receipts of £3,700 a year. Doesn't look to be on course to do that to me so far.
764+130=894
894x6= £5,364
As you can see, the payback may even be a bit shorter than 9 years and then all the rest of the 25 year feed in tariff period is £5,364 profit per year, and that number is also linked to inflation. I think that the council has made a very good decision, both environmentally and financially, and that's not just because I work in the industry, the sums add up whichever way you look at it.
Now let's hope that summer will finally make an appearance!
Matt Thornington
Managing Director
SunSmart Energy Ltd
SunSmart Energy
says...
11:25am Thu 19 Jul 12
Natccouncillor
says...
12:16pm Mon 6 Aug 12
SunSmart Energy says...
9:12am Mon 16 Jul 12
Matt Thornington
SunSmart Energy Ltd
Winchester