Weymouth firm to slash energy bills with on-site solar 'farm'
A new solar farm’s been given the green light for Weymouth’s Granby industrial estate
A vacant plot on Weymouth’s Granby industrial estate has been approved for a solar ‘farm.’
The site, around the size of a football pitch, is adjacent to Tecan Way, almost immediately behind the Marquis of Granby pub.
It has been earmarked for seven rows of ground-mounted panels, with the panels covering around 0.6 hectares of the vacant site which had been earmarked for employment use.
Over time the panels could save more than £3.5million in energy costs.
The power the panels produce will be used in the Tecan components business, which employs around 120 people on the trading estate, reducing the need for energy from the National Grid and cutting the carbon footprint of the business.
Dorchester architects Crickmay Stark say that although the site has been set aside for employment uses there are no immediate proposals to develop it with the solar panels providing “an efficient and appropriate use until such time that any subsequent development proposals come forward.”
They have told Dorset Council that should the site for the panels be needed, in the future, to expand Tecan’s base, the panels could be switched to the roof of the building.
The 638KWp scheme, expected to cost more than half a million pounds to install, could produce more than 700,000KWh during its first year, saving more than £3.6million in electricity costs over the expected 20-year life of the panels at today’s prices.
Chickerell Town Council had recommended approval for the proposal with Dorset Council planners now agreeing the use for the site.