Solar panels have been installed on the roof of North Herts Council’s office building in Letchworth to help reduce the council’s carbon emissions and save money.

A total of 30 panels measuring approximately 1m x 2m were fitted this week at the district council offices on Gernon Road.

They are expected to generate more than 10,000 kWh of electricity and save around 5.3 tonnes of carbon each year. The estimated financial saving during the lifetime of the panels - 25 years - is over £60,000.

Cllr Steve Jarvis, executive member for environment, said: “We have installed the solar panels after carrying out a feasibility study to check they would generate enough energy to make it worthwhile.

"The reduction of carbon is roughly the equivalent of more than 6,500 trees growing for one year so this is great news for our local environment.

“We should all be looking at investing in green technologies like this because they will reduce our emissions helping us to tackle climate change and reduce our impact on the planet. In the long run they will save us money as well.”

Installing solar panels is one of a number of measures the council is taking, having declared a climate emergency in May 2019.

It has switched to renewable electricity and green gas in its buildings and replaced its community safety vehicles with hybrid, ultra low emission vehicles.

You can help the council fight climate change by planting one of the council’s 10,000 free trees. For more information go to www.north-herts.gov.uk/freetree.

For more information about what the council is doing to tackle climate change visit www.north-herts.gov.uk/climatechange.