Solar deal will cut bills for 500 HHP homes
Five hundred homes owned by Hebridean Housing Partnership are to have solar panels fitted by the end of the year in a major initiative to tackle fuel poverty and reduce carbon emissions.
Each of the houses will be fitted with ten panels that can produce savings of £700 a year. Tenants who do not wish to participate will be able to opt out.
Work will be carried out through a contract with the energy supplier, OVO. It takes advantage of a UK Government scheme, ECO4, which places an obligation on energy suppliers to fund measures which support low-income and fuel-poor households.
Funding for the initiative is currently confirmed until the end of the year, driving the need to get the work locally started soon. The 500 homes to which solar panels are offered will be in council tax Band D or below.
A report to the HHP board said: “Solar-generated electricity can significantly reduce tenants’ monthly energy bills. A desktop exercise for Obbe Road has been carried out and the full 4.35kW array can be installed.
“The estimated savings to tenants would total £700 per year consisting of £500 from export tariff and £200 saved through using the generated electricity”
The report says that “installation of solar panels supports HHP’s strategic goals of placing tenants at the centre of all that we do and investing sustainably in tenants’ homes.
“It reduces fuel poverty and exposure to variable energy tariffs. It is consistent with our Asset Management Strategy which seeks to improve the energy efficiency of homes”.
There is a warning that some properties will not be able to accommodate solar panels. A survey will be carried out before agreeing to the installation. The angle of the roof and any shading will be the biggest issues rather than which way the roof is facing.
A list of 501 properties potentially eligible for solar panels to be fitted shows that they stretch from Lionel in the north to Vatersay in the south and lead into all corners with the islands.
The deal with OVO was referred to by vice-convener Duncan Macinnes at a meeting
at a meeting of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s sustainable development committee last week, when the council’s fuel poverty strategy came under discussion.
Noting that fuel poverty levels are much higher in the privately-owned sector than in social housing, Cllr Macinnes – who is also a member of the HHP board - wondered if the same kind of group approach to OVO might be feasible.