Solar panel project will reduce electricity bills

The installations should mean that council tenants will have lower electricity bills.

Up to 511 buildings on Warwick District Council’s housing revenue account and six corporate properties could have photovoltaic systems fitted as part of the programme.

The council has included £3.3 million from its housing investment programme and £375,000 from its other capital programme to pay for the installations.

These amounts will be reduced in proportion with the number of installations which have taken place by the end of the current financial year with the council expecting to have about 25 per cent of the programme completed by this time.

Installations should continue after March but future work will need re-evaluating in light of proposed changes to feed-in tariffs in April.

These tariffs allow the owners of systems to receive money from electricity providers for generating their own energy and feeding it back into the grid and they also reduce energy bills for occupiers.

Speaking at a meeting of the district council’s executive last week, Cllr Norman Vincett (Con, Kenilworth St John’s) who is responsible for policy on housing and property, said: “This project is the first phase in the council’s commitment to use renewable technologies to reduce carbon emissions and improve the health and economic outcomes of its citizens. Following this phase the council will produce a comprehensive green energy programme which will identify how such renewable energy benefits can be delivered to a wider group of tenants and residents living in the district.”

The council will be responsible for construction, operation, funding, insurance and project management costs and own the systems.

Speaking on behalf of the council’s finance and audit scrutiny committee, Cllr Richard Edwards, (Lab, Leamington Willes) said it was important for the council to use the same contractor to install and maintain the systems to avoid any discrepancies.

He said the quality of insulation on properties would affect the project’s financial benefits.

Cllr Bill Gifford (Lib Dem, Leamington Milverton) said: “The overview and scrutiny committee felt there should be real efforts to reduce fuel poverty to make homes even more efficient. There was some feeling that we should use this opportunity to employ local people and train them for the installations.”