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Housing association completes 250-home solar panel installation
Together Housing has completed the installation of solar panels on 250 of its homes in Lancashire.
The £2m project saw 170 of the landlord’s homes in Colne and 80 in Nelson fitted with photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, as well as on-site battery storage units which fill with solar energy during the day.
The scheme is the result of a three-year project, partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), to revolutionise the sector’s use of renewable energy.
Avonside Renewables, a division of national service provider Avonside Group, delivered the solar panels and contracted Howard Ward Associates (HWA) to provide structural surveys and assessments of the homes.
According to Avonside and HWA, the work represented the largest deployment of solar and battery storage by any social housing provider at the time it was carried out.
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Residents are expected to save as much as £300 per year on their energy bills as a result of the project, which has the potential to be rolled out to 20,000 of Together Housing’s 37,000 homes.
Giles Ward, director at HWA, said: “This was an important, energy-efficient project which the team and I are really pleased to have been a part of. We have worked on numerous PV schemes since the sector was in its infancy and it is one of our specialisms as a firm.
“As one of the largest projects of its kind in social housing, we were proud to impart our expertise to help determine the feasibility of the properties.
“It was a pleasure to work with Avonside Group, which has worked with many businesses and organisations in multi sectors, to reduce carbon emissions.”
Etienne Hilaire, branch manager at Avonside Group, said: “Solar and storage systems offer social housing providers the opportunity to open up many cost-saving and energy-reducing benefits to both their tenants and their business.
“This was a substantial project for Together Housing and it’s fantastic what has been delivered. We have already seen the positive impact this is having, with tenants in Colne and Nelson reporting a reduction in their energy bills, thus helping to combat fuel poverty.
“The potential to roll this project out to similar housing schemes around the UK could have an incredible impact on our energy consumption on a national scale.”
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