Nottingham City Council is celebrating a milestone after solar systems installed on its building generated more than 1 million kilowatt hours of electricity this year.

Nottingham City Council, one of the most prolific adopters of solar in the country, has installed solar on public buildings including libraries, leisure centres, schools and offices, all of which have enjoyed significant generation patterns this year.

The summer heatwave and an extended period of bright weather in the spring saw generation spike across the board, with a number of solar investors reporting generation figures far above expectations in periods of the year.

As well as generating clean electricity for its buildings, the council also pointed towards how the financial benefits of self-generation was helping to plug the council’s budget gap and protect front line services.

Councillor Sally Longford, portfolio holder for energy and environment at Nottingham City Council, said the body was beginning to see the “huge benefits” of the solar programme, both financially and environmentally.

“With savings of over £300,000 per year, we are really seeing that it pays to be green. We know that Nottingham people care about the environment so it’s great that we can have a real impact for the better on the environment whilst saving money and creating skilled local jobs,” she said.