County Supplies Generating Its Own Electricity

As part of the refurbishment of County Supplies Building 1 in 2020, photovoltaic (solar) panels were added to the roof, providing enough electricity to cover the energy usage of the building over a twelve-month period.

Installing the solar panels on the roof of Building 1 allows County Supplies to generate sufficient electricity to cover the building’s energy usage over a whole year. The system is designed that on long summer days it will generate more than required and unused electricity will be fed back to the national grid. The size of the installation was based on 2019 data and allowed for a slow percentage of degradation of the panels over time. Principally a storage warehouse, the building also accommodates offices, a drop-in centre and training rooms.

Dave Pimbblet – Business Manager County Supplies said:

“Fitting of the new thermally insulated roof to Building 1 gave us the opportunity to invest in and install solar panels. In addition to providing enough energy for the building over a year, it also offers the bonus of powering 4 electric vehicle charging points throughout the day in the summer months too.”

Property Services, working on de-carbonising programmes, have also replaced the 70-year-old oil fired heating system with a cleaner more economical mains gas fired system. This coupled with the upgrading of the single glazed 1970s sliding sash windows in Building 3 will help to reduce further the heating costs and our environmental impact in the area.