Edinburgh’s Telford College is set to cut its business electricity bills by installing 650 solar panels on its roof.
The solar panels will generate electricity to heat water for the sports, hairdressing and kitchen sections of the college. Not only will the project help to reduce the college’s energy bills but any surplus electricity generated can be sold to the grid.
The solar panels will be protected from seagull droppings with a special film and will generate enough electricity to boil 50 kettles at the same time. At the moment the largest number of solar panels on a roof in Scotland is 204 – which are installed on the roof at West Lothian College.
The principal of Telford College, Miles Dibsdall said the college wants to strengthen its “green credentials, and the installation of the solar panel roof is a major endorsement of this pledge”.
The first phase of the installation will see 210 solar panels installed at a cost of around £90,000 although it’s thought the college could generate a profit of £400,000 over 25 years through savings and selling surplus electricity back to the national grid.
As business electricity prices increase the solar generated electricity will help to reduce the college’s electricity bills. It hopes to save between £2,000 and £4,000 a year on business electricity bills.
