The array at Queen’s Drive Park & Ride has now been approved by Nottingham City councillors and a second site at Colwick Racecourse Park & Ride will be constructed at the same time with completion expected by April 2015.
The Queen’s Drive site will generate £121,000 a year for the Council, with £25,000 worth of electricity being exported to the national grid, £63,000 earned in Feed In Tariffs (FIT) and £33,000 in energy savings. Colwick will provide an additional £95,000 annual income.
The solar canopies are, in effect, roofs over parking spaces. They will be mounted on a supporting structure with the panels themselves tilted in order to gain the best advantage from incoming solar energy. The Queen’s Drive site will consist of 4000 panels with a further 3000 mounted at Colwick. The combined area covered by the arrays amounts to 10,500 square metres, enough to cover the pitch at Notts County Football Club one and a half times.
The Queen’s Drive solar canopy will increase the amount of power generated on council property by 400 percent, contributing more than 1.0 gigawatt hours of renewable energy and saving 600 tonnes of carbon per year. It will be seen by more than 81,000 motorists and bus passengers per day travelling along the nearby A52. The array will also contribute fuel to one of the largest fleets of electric buses in Europe through electric charging points.
“Harvesting power from our urban energy farms means that we can gather a large amount of sustainable energy for the city” said Councillor Alan Clark, City Council Portfolio Holder for Energy and Sustainability. “This not only boosts our reputation as being the UK's most sustainable and innovative energy city, it will provide locally sourced energy for local people.”
Nottingham has another seven Park & Ride sites available for the deployment of solar energy along with many other suitable locations such as car park roofs. The council has established a new Nottingham Energy Supply Company to provide some of the city’s green energy.
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