Newly installed solar panels at two of Dorset Council’s waste depots are already producing over 200,000 kWh of renewable energy each year and providing most of each building’s power needs.
As part of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) which saw the Council awarded £19m of central government funding by Salix to make publicly owned buildings more energy efficient, solar panels have been added to the roofs of the Crookhill waste services depot in Chickerell, and the Poundbury waste services depot in Dorchester.
At Crookhill, 302 solar PV modules have been installed on the roof of the main depot building. These are expected to produce around 135,180 kWh of electricity each year – the equivalent of 36 homes’ power – and saving around 30 tonnes of carbon emissions.
While the panels are expected to provide around 70% of the power needed at the depot, it’s worth noting that some recent sunny days have seen the whole Crookhill site running purely on solar-generated electricity alone, from dawn until dusk.
At the Poundbury depot, 182 panels have been added to the roof. This is expected to generate around 71,057 kWh each year, which is more than the site’s typical annual usage, and save around 18 tonnes of CO2 annually.
The panels on the roofs convert the sun’s energy into direct current electricity (DC), which is then converted into alternating current electricity (AC) that is used on the premises. The panels will always generate as much power as they can, so if the sites do not use this energy then it will automatically feed into the national grid.
Similar panels have already been installed in schools, libraries, and leisure centres as part of the PSDS programme that is being coordinated by Dorset Council’s Sustainable Property team within the Assets and Property directorate. The work also includes the installation of heat pumps, LED lighting and improved building management systems at various Dorset Council sites and buildings across the county.
Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said:
“At a time when energy is so expensive for everyone, I’m delighted to see we’re already reaping the benefits of producing our own renewable electricity across these waste depot buildings. Not only will this save money that we’ll be able to redirect toward more essential services, but the carbon savings will help us reach our net-zero emissions target as per our Climate and Ecological Emergency strategy.
I would encourage people to investigate whether installing solar panels or other energy saving measures at your home may be useful. If you run a business or a public/community sector organisation, our Low Carbon Dorset programme may be able to help you improve your energy efficiency and increase your use of renewable energy.
A huge thanks goes to Ineco Energy and Wessex Eco Energy who installed the panels at Crookhill and Poundbury respectively, as well as the many Council officers who are working tirelessly to ensure our £19m PSDS grant is spent effectively and efficiently.”
I have read about the £19Million awarded by the Government to help make Council buildings more energy efficient but it comes to life when we begin to see and hear about real examples like the two waste depots. Driving through Littlemoor recently I saw that the library roof was covered in solar panels. Just the sort of encouragement I need to start looking into the benefits of adding solar panels to my roof at home and whether I should be replacing my gas boiler with an air source heat pump.
19 million is a lot of tax payers money for the Council to spend on itself. Many other local councils are spending large government grants improving social housing and lowering their bills and carbon. When will Dorset Council do this?
Ultimately the funding is being used to reduce our carbon emissions for the benefit of the environment and to save public money. That is the condition of the grant (ie. we can’t spend it on anything else) but there are other potential funding streams from central govt we’re constantly applying for that may allow us to invest in other similar measures. In the meantime, to see what’s available to the public we recommend visiting https://www.healthyhomesdorset.org.uk/ – James
Thanks James
Other Councils appear to be much more successful at winning grants that help their residents and also save more carbon in so doing. Hopefully you will be as successful in the future as other neighbouring councils.
This is good news but why has planning permission been granted for the new waste facility near Blandford (on an AONB) without PV panels on the south facing roof that faces the dual carriageway?!
Well done Dorset Council however when I see all the new houses that have had DCC planning permission , particularly around Wimborne, there seem to be NONE that have got panels . They could have had them installed by the developer at the insistence of DCC planning approval – why not????
There are many public buildings with large roof area’s where solar panels should be fitted.