Tuesday 12 November 2013

De Montfort University hopes for sunny energy savings of £25k

De Montfort University in Leicester has installed 502 solar panels on three of its main buildings (pictured).

With 22,000 students and 2,700 staff, the academic institute expects to save around £25,500 on its annual electricity bills after the move.

After spending £180,000 on the panels, the energy savings should help it break even in seven years.

The two 50 KWP installations (around 208 panels each) and single 22.6 KWP (around 94 panels) will also generate revenue from the Government’s Feed-in Tariffs.

Paul Eccleshare, Energy Manager for De Montfort University said: “This is part of De Montfort University’s strategic plan to invest in renewable energy and make considerable energy savings going forward.

“By investing in the solar panels we will be able to reduce our energy bills considerably over the next twenty five to thirty years by utilising solar energy as a sustainable source of energy for the university.”

Stephen Darlington, Commercial Services Bid Manager at Mark Group which put the panels in place said: “With the rising price of energy a constant topic of debate at the moment, it’s not difficult to understand the drivers behind a renewable energy strategy for a university the size of De Montfort University.”

The university can check output from the solar panels using a central dashboard monitoring system.