​Community-owned solar panels will be both economical and environmentally friendly

A leading environmental group has welcomed City of Edinburgh Council’s decision to install community owned panels on 25 buildings.

WWF Scotland says the move will be both economical and will help showcase the potential of sun-harvested energy.

Public buildings throughout the city such as schools, leisure and community centres will be chosen to host the solar technology, which is expected to deliver significant environmental and social benefits.

The energy generated by the installations will help to make future cost savings while reducing the capital’s carbon emissions by an estimated 855 tonnes a year.

Solar power is growing in popularity in Scotland, especially in urban areas where alternatives such as wind turbines might not be possible

Buildings that are chosen to participate will benefit from cheaper electricity from the solar panels, resulting in substantial savings.

Any surplus energy will be sold to the National Grid and profits made by the project will be reinvested locally through a newly-created community benefit fund.

WWF Scotland director Lang banks said: “Using council property to install solar panels is a smart move that over their lifetime will help the capital avoid thousands of tonnes of climate change emissions.

“In addition to improving the energy efficiency of buildings, we’d very much encourage all local authorities to look into the possibility of using their land and buildings to generate clean energy.

“Solar power is growing in popularity in Scotland, especially in urban areas where alternatives such as wind turbines might not be possible.

“For the one thousand Edinburgh households that have already installed solar panels, during April there was enough sun to effectively meet all of their electricity or hot water needs, helping to reduce their reliance on polluting fossil fuels.

“With these sorts of figures, every home, business or council with a south-facing roof should seriously consider switching on to the full potential of solar power.”