Stafford Rangers Football Club has gone solar with a 50kWp rooftop installation fitted to the roof of its Marston Road stadium.

The semi-professional outfit has received the array free of charge from Renewable Energy Investments (REI), which was fitted by the developer’s installation partner Paramount Energy Solutions.

Stafford Rangers will now purchase its electricity from REI’s Solar Power Purchase Scheme at discounted rates and chairman John Bromley said the club was already seeing the benefits of the 192-panel system.

“It means we have more money to spend on players’ wages. We have already increased the manager’s budget as we prepare for next season,” Bromley said.

REI said the installation would have cost the club around £70,000 if it had paid upfront and that it would now save approximately £117,000 on electricity bills over the installation’s 20-year life span.

“Stafford Rangers are the perfect example of the benefits of our fully funded PV model,” Toby Smith, projects director at REI, said, adding: “It also means that the club can cut its carbon footprint and help us achieve the Government’s renewable energy generation targets.