Kirkhill Community Centre has just had an array of solar photo voltaic (PV) panels fitted to the roof. They will generate electricity from the sun which will help keep the costs of running the hall down and help protect the environment.
The solar PV panels create electricity from daylight. Our 21 panels are rated as a 3.96 kilowatt peak (KWp) array. This means the maximum amount of electricity they are likely to produce is 3.96 kilowatts per hour. A typical kettle needs 2 kilowatts to boil.
The Kirkhill District Amenities Association (KDAA) will earn money for every kWh of electricity that the solar panels generate through the Feed in Tariff scheme. We also earn money from selling any extra electricity we don’t use to the grid. We will receive 41.3p per kWh for all electricity generated and 3p per kWh for electricity we export to the grid. We also save money on our electricity bills because we generate our own free electricity and therefore buy less from the grid.
We estimate that our solar PV panels will produce 3207 kilowatt hours and save around 1.4 tonnes of CO2 a year. A tonne of CO2 would fill a double decker bus! We will also save around £1700 in energy costs per year.
We were fortunate to be able to secure funding for 83% of the costs of installation of the panels from the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES). Our contribution of about £3000 should be paid back from income in around two years. We are very grateful to Community Energy Scotland for all their help and assistance with the project.
The panels were fitted by Solar Electricity Systems.