Graham, Tom and Ian

Your Lib Dem team for Cheadle West & Gatley Learn more

2,000 homes and 30 council building go solar powered in Stockport

by Lib Dem team on 24 April, 2012

From Stockport Council

Solar panels are helping to power almost 2,000 homes in Stockport and nearly 30 Stockport Council buildings to help the environment and save money.

As part of a multi-million pound investment to provide low carbon improvements including solar energy, wood chip fuel, thermal cladding and updated boilers, Stockport is the only Greater Manchester borough to deliver a solar panel programme on this scale.

It is estimated that the installations, which began in autumn 2011, cut energy bills by £130 and reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 600kg per home.

The residential programme has seen residents living in Stockport Homes’ managed properties across the borough benefit from roof installed solar photovoltaics which capture the sun’s energy and generate electricity – even on a cloudy day.

Other Council-owned properties such as Stopford House, Romiley Forum, libraries and the borough’s Target Life and Fitness Centres have also benefitted from the investment, saving money and carbon and putting Stockport at the forefront of sustainable change in Greater Manchester.

Paul Lawrence, Stockport Council’s Service Director, Place Development, said: “This is great news for residents and for the environment. Residents are able to save money, improve life for themselves and for future generations. Local businesses have been employed to deliver the project which helps to boost the local economy; so everyone’s a winner.”

Later this year, Stockport will also gain from two small scale hydro schemes underway at Otterspool Weir in Marple and Stringer Weir by Vernon Park. Both projects involve community ownership and will generate enough electricity to power 130 households and generate around £475,000 for further community projects in the borough over the 40 year lease.

If you want to help make the borough cleaner and greener visit the Council’s ‘Big Green Borough’ webpages for more information: www.stockport.gov.uk/biggreenborough

   2 Comments

2 Responses

  1. B. A. Horstmann says:

    There is a weir at the Cheadle Mill/Bleachworks site with quite a fall. What about a micro-hydroelectric scheme here?

  2. Colin Hall says:

    This is definitely the future for most homes with good sized roofs, but here in Norfolk we are finding great returns from personal wind turbines. Let’s face it, we get more wind than we get sunshine 😉

Leave a Reply

You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>