Solar panels help offset energy usage at hall

In 2020 the council declared a climate emergency and pledged to achieve net zero carbon by 2030.

To support this pledge, the council installed 182 solar panels on the roof of Himley Hall last summer, with funding secured through the government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

The total cost of the installation was £113,000.

Since being installed the panels have generated nearly 50 mega watt hours of electricity and 8911 kg of CO2 emissions have been saved, which is equivalent to planting 540 trees.

The panels have been installed on the hall’s south wing roof, which was replaced in the 1940s following a fire during the hall’s conversion into the National Coal Board’s headquarters.

Councillor Dr Rob Clinton, cabinet member for climate change, said:

When the roof of the south wing was rebuilt following the fire in the 1940s, it was built as a flat roof, and not to the building’s original design.

It’s this fundamental change in the roof design that has allowed this project to take place, providing the perfect suntrap for the panels.

While the panels can’t be seen from the ground and do not impact the character of the building, they are helping to offset the hall’s energy usage and helping to achieve the council’s net zero pledge.

As an authority, we will continue to explore opportunities to install energy saving measures in public buildings to tackle the issues of climate change.

Last year the council switched to 100 per cent green renewable electricity and improvements are being made to a number of council buildings to switch to greener heating measures, as part of the government’s £4.4million public sector decarbonisation scheme.

An update on how this money is being spent will go to cabinet on June 28.