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There is a lot of untapped potential for generating electricity from photovoltaics in the Moorlands and until now it has been very difficult to encourage organisations to make best use of their roofs, especially those facing in the right directions.  However, despite the loss of the Feed-in-Tariff, which had previously made such installations economically attractive, there are some heroic organisations trying to ensure that solar installation will continue and expand.  One of these is the Big Solar Co-op, funded by Share Energy, who are able to estimate annual generating potential (kWh) from aerial surveillance.  MCA has had information from them on the roofs of three SMDC buildings, which we have shared with council officers, and we hope they will take note of them:  Brough Park Leisure Centre (55,304 kWh pa), Moorland House (30,320 kWh pa) and offices beside Leek’s recycling centre (19,734 kWh pa).

Other commercial, industrial and equivalent large roofs might also be suitable and Big Solar can help with the financial model to give owners and tenants cheaper power than they now enjoy.  Locating sites where the end user will be able to use a large proportion of the electricity generated and will be resident for a long time is key to post-subsidy solar power being successful in the long term.

We would like all readers of the newsletter to pass on the locations of any roofs they think have potential to the Big Solar Co-op, who can then assess whether they might be suitable and contact the owners with the good news. This service is supplied absolutely free of any obligation on either side. You can submit a site to Big Solar here.

Another useful organisation is Solar for Schools, who have a very informative website, so we hope all students and teachers will use this to get lots of solar on school roofs. All of their help is free and without cost to the school.  All that would be needed is existing meter readings but we would like to think that is an essential skill being taught in a modern curriculum.