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Council to put £144,000 solar panels on roof

Solar panels costing taxpayers £144,000 will be fitted on to the roof of Wolverhampton's Civic Centre, which council bosses say will be recouped in reduced energy bills — in nine years' time.

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Solar panels costing taxpayers £144,000 will be fitted on to the roof of Wolverhampton's Civic Centre, which council bosses say will be recouped in reduced energy bills — in nine years' time.

The panels will generate enough power to run 1,000 lights in the building a day and the council hopes to earn extra cash by sending electricity it does not use to the National Grid.

Bosses at the cash-strapped council say the panels will have paid for themselves in just over nine years.

They predict they will continue to make money for a further 14 years after that.

Contractors are now being invited to submit bids to install the panels.

The council is trying to save £36 million over the next financial year and Councillor John Reynolds, cabinet member for the environment, said: "These solar panels will make money and cut bills, so this an investment on behalf of taxpayers, as well as helping prevent climate change.

"There is a lot of space on the roof of the civic centre so fitting panels on there is an excellent way to put that to use. We think we can generate a significant amount of our own power and spare capacity will be fed back to the National Grid."

Council spokesman TIm Clark said the panels would cost around £144,000, but claimed they would "have paid for themselves in little over nine years" through a combination of lower electricity bills and income from sending back electricity to the National Grid.

But former police superintendent John Mellor OBE, who will be standing as an independent candidate in May's local elections, said: "Solar panels serve a purpose but perhaps greater economies could be achieved in the civic centre by switching lights and other electrical equipment off.

"Long term it may save money but I think you could save twice as much money just doing simple things."

The authority says the panels will cut its carbon emissions by 200 tons a year.

It is trying to reduce its emissions by 10 per cent.

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