The chairman of Greater Brighton today praised a scheme which has seen more than 1,000 households take advantage of low cost solar panels to power their homes.
All seven councils of the City Region have joined in the scheme, run by West Sussex County Council, to promote the energy-efficient programme to provide low-cost solar rooftop panels to householders.
The Solar Together Sussex scheme was offered to residents within their relevant areas in October last year, allowing them to use clean energy to power their homes, and helping to reduce the impact local energy use has on the environment. It was able to install the panels at low cost because of the bulk buying power of so many residents coming together.
The chairman of Greater Brighton, Cllr Daniel Humphreys, said:
“Well done to everyone who worked on this scheme. It really shows what an impact we can have on climate change measures if we all work together as our councils did here with West Sussex County Council.
“I have frequently said that this issue does not respect borders so working together locally and indeed globally is imperative. These Councils have also shown their commitment to the GB10, Greater Brighton’s 10 pledges on the environment which we launched last year.”
By generating electricity from the sun’s rays, householders will save money on their bills and reduce their carbon footprint. The average UK home with solar panels can expect to reduce its annual carbon emissions by more than a tonne – the equivalent of driving about 5,000 miles in a medium-sized, modern car.
A total of 206 households In Brighton & Hove are having solar panels installed. Within Adur & Worthing Councils’ population areas 127 households have taken advantage; Arun District Council, 74; Crawley Borough Council, 73; Lewes District Council (and Eastbourne Borough Council), 10; and under Mid Sussex District Council, 28.
There are an additional 567 homes outside of the Greater Brighton city region area participating in the scheme.
Residents can choose to fit a domestic battery system to store surplus electricity generated by their solar panels to use as and when it’s needed.
The Greater Brighton city region, made up of local authorities, universities and other partnerships, is using GB10 to pledge to tackle the climate change crisis and place itself at the centre of efforts to effect real change.
GB10 includes ten pledges towards addressing environmental issues mainly concerned with water and energy conservation.
The Solar Together Sussex scheme is an example of endeavours being made towards Pledge 8, which recognises that energy efficiency refits and solar panels can, and are helping to, cut energy use considerably across the region.
Greater Brighton members own a considerable amount of building space – and so they are committed to reducing their own energy use by 50 per cent, by 2030.
For information on the GB10 see the GB10 Pledges page.