Solar panel study

The council has commissioned Absolar Solutions to assess all non-domestic roofs over 30m² across the borough to determine how much renewable energy they could each generate with rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.

This involved looking at roofs on industrial and commercial buildings such as warehouses, offices, shops and factories as well as those belonging to schools and colleges, community halls, hotels and places of worship.

The council is now offering reports to the owners and tenants of these properties that set out how many solar PV panels they could have installed, the estimated cost and payback period, and how much carbon and money they could save.

Benefits of installing solar panels

The benefits to building owners, and their tenants, of installing rooftop solar PV panels include:

• cheaper electricity bills
• a lower carbon footprint
• sending a positive message to communities and staff
• a more energy efficient building (under the latest Government regulations, landlords of non-domestic properties must ensure they have a minimum energy performance certificate rating of E).

How to get your report

Request a report for a building you own

In requesting a report, you agree you have read and understood the following:

• all information on this report is for educational informational purposes, it provides an illustration of what could potentially be achieved based on a number of broad assumptions
• should you decide to act upon any information on this report and instruct an installer or community energy company, you do so at your own risk
• while this information on the report has been verified to the best of our abilities we cannot guarantee that there are no mistakes or errors
• Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council gives no warranty and accepts no responsibility or liability for the accuracy, or the completeness of the information and materials contained in this report
• under no circumstances will Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council be held responsible for any claims, damages, losses, expenses, costs or liabilities whatsoever

Finding a potential installer

Installers should be accredited under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). Find an installer on the MCS website.

Installers will be able to provide you with a more accurate quotation, based on your electricity consumption and the price you pay. They will also undertake any necessary additional checks, such as structural and electrical surveys.

Funding opportunities

The Enterprise M3 Local Economic Partnership’s Funding Finder sets out a number of Government funding schemes, including those that could help towards the installation costs for solar PV panels.

You could also consider approaching a local community energy company. Provided your building’s roof is considered to be suitable, one of these not-for-profit organisations could cover the initial installation and ongoing maintenance costs for the panels by raising money from local communities.

The company would then sell you the electricity at an agreed price per kilowatt hour (kWh) and reinvest its profits in local schemes to benefit the community. You would need a legal agreement and to allow access to the panels following installation.

The three local community energy companies are:

• Calleva Community Energy
• Loddon Community Energy
• Test Source Community Energy

Further information is available on the Community Energy South website.