Electric cars to be powered from city council HQ roof
HUNDREDS of solar panels are to be installed on the roof of two major Nottingham City Council buildings next year.
The council's headquarters at Loxley House, in Station Street, will have 160 photo-voltaic panels put on its roof in March.
-
Green power: Andy Vaughan, director of neighbourhood services at Nottingham City Council, and John Pike, head of the East Midlands Mayday Network, with one of the council's electric vehicles.
NOSR20101011B-072_C
-
Green power: Andy Vaughan, director of neighbourhood services at Nottingham City Council, and John Pike, head of the East Midlands Mayday Network, with one of the council's electric vehicles.NOSR20101011B-072_C
Another 180 panels will then go up on the roof of EnviroEnergy, in London Road, the council-owned company which runs the district heating system.
Andrew Estrop, general manager at EnviroEnergy, said the panels will cost between £80,000 and £100,000, but could produce up to 17,000 kilowatts of energy.
He said: "Everything depends on things like which design we'll choose in the end – and how much the sun will shine."
The council plans to use local installers.
The panels will supply green energy to the buildings and help keep their electricity bills down.
The ones on Loxley House will also be used to power the city council's two electric cars, which are used by staff.
The cars are based at the Eastcroft Depot and are powered from the National Grid but are to be based at Loxley House once the panels are installed.
Discussions are also under way with South Notts and Broxtowe colleges about the possibility of courses being offered in photo-voltaic installation to meet an expected increase in demand for green technology in the city.
The city council was recently named as the 3,000th member of the Prince of Wales's Mayday Network – the UK's biggest group of businesses dedicated to working towards a sustainable future.
Set up by Business in the Community on behalf of the Prince of Wales in 2007, it helps businesses of all sizes to implement sustainable practices.
Councillor Katrina Bull, city council portfolio holder for environment and climate change, said: "I am delighted that the city council has become the 3,000th member of the Mayday Network.
"We have set ambitious targets that will ultimately see none of our household waste going to landfill and build upon our energy self-sufficiency even more.
"We are looking at ways to make our business practices 'greener', too.
"An example of this is our electric vehicles, which will soon be powered from energy generated from solar power harvested on the roof of our main office block, Loxley House."
Katie Webber, National Mayday campaign director, added: "Our core mission is to help as many businesses as possible to move forwards on the journey towards a sustainable future.
"We welcome councils, schools, other charities and social enterprises into the fold.
"We look forward to working with Nottingham City Council to raise awareness about the campaign in the East Midlands region and beyond."
For advice about becoming more sustainable, businesses can go to: www.maydaynetwork.com
5 Comments
by Andyman, Derbys
Saturday, November 20 2010, 1:39AM
“The issue is very simple, particularly when we see the quote "up to" which in reality means nothing, these PV panels manufacturers and sellers make outlandish claims based on the theoretical maximum output in their sales spiel.
In reality they average only 7% of their claimed maximum output in the UK due to our climate, this is the average output measured from the systems currently installed, so very accurate. This misleads and causes considerable sums to money to be spent on hypothetical figures, which in reality means they are an expensive white elephant and will never make an economic return in their lifetime.
If we look at the electric cars in more detail it is very telling, consider why the rare earth motors are made in China, but why? simply because they have no environmental legislation and no Health and Safety legislation. Manufacturing these motors is a very toxic process which uses very toxic chemicals which are simply dumped onto surrounding land, or into rivers and streams, thus leaving an environmental legacy for centuries. In addition to this the workers have no protection which means their lifespan is averaging 5-10 years, this essentially means we are killing Chinese workers for the benefit of our environmental aspirations, who can condone such actions.”
by frustrated law biding tax paying Citizen, Nottingham
Friday, November 19 2010, 6:06PM
“Is Jon Collins behind this madcap idea.
In this cost cutting crisis time we live in and all the cut front line services and vast redundecies the council spend £1000s and £1000s on this idea.
They will bark on about the carbon footprint and going green but what about the job loss,.
This is just a ploy to take out minds of f the crisis at hand.
Wont work Jon, it wont work”
by Dave, South Of The River
Friday, November 19 2010, 5:24PM
“NCC need to stop trying to save the planet with high profile / high cost / low benefit projects, and get on with the job of providing essential services at minimum cost. There can be no other agenda at the minute for a cash-strapped council, with a high proportion of vulnerable residents.”
by William, Nottingham
Friday, November 19 2010, 10:32AM
“How ridiculous! Up to 17,000 watts will mean 0 at night. 17,000 in full summer sun and what 3,000-4,000 in between during the day? This is £1.02 worth of electricity per hour in the height of sunny summer, £0 at night, so it will take 40 years just to save enough energy to pay back that energy wasted during their manufacture. I suspect another Green World Order money making scam.”
by Liz, Nottingham
Friday, November 19 2010, 9:47AM
“I read the headline and for one awful moment thought they were going to festoon the roof of the Council House with solar panels!”