Corby is considering fitting its council houses with solar panels in a bid to generate money as well as green electricity now that the government has given the go-ahead. On August 9, Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Chris Huhne, ended the quarrel over whether or not councils across Britain will be allowed to sell renewable electricity back to the national grid.
The Corby borough council is currently in talks with utility companies about installing photovoltaic cells on roofs of properties as early as spring 2011. This would mean providing council home residents with free renewable electricity, cutting their bills as well as helping the environment.
Corby is hoping to become the first of Northamptonshire's local authorities to consider this kind of project on such a large scale. If this project goes ahead as planned, the council will earn its initial payment for the systems back by benefitting from the generous feed-in tariff (currently set at 41.3 pence per kilowatt hour).
The council's Chief Executive, Chris Mallender said, “It's one of those deals that sounds too good to be true but in truth it's part of the push to generate more electricity from renewables and reduce carbon.”
A full report should be ready to present to the council’s board in September 2010.