Tapping the sun's rays

The university has installed 663 new solar panels that will reduce our carbon emissions by more than 82 tonnes – the equivalent of 37 UK households’ annual electricity consumption.

21 January

The £200,000 installation, at our campus in Falmer, puts it among the top universities in the UK for on-site renewable energy.

The panels, on the roofs of Westlain House, Mayfield House and Falmer Library, are expected to meet 7.5% of Falmer’s electricity demand, generating over 173,000 kWh of clean, renewable electricity a year.

The installation was completed in record time to benefit from a higher ‘Feed-in Tariff’ subsidy - a government initiative which provided a financial incentive for electricity produced from renewable sources, but which has been cut by 70 per cent for solar PV arrays installed after 15 January.

To safeguard an additional £200k income for the university over the next 20 years, the PV installation was brought forward following the announcements of the cuts, and swiftly completed before the feed-in tariff deadline.

Abigail Dombey and Robert Baker

Abigail Dombey and Robert Baker, the university’s Energy Management Engineer

Members of the university’s Environment Team and Ecosphere Renewables, a local Sussex company, worked flat out over the Christmas break to complete the installation within just three weeks of the contract award date.

Abigail Dombey, the university’s Environmental Manager, said: “The installation is a clear demonstration of the university’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions, ensure energy security and to promote sustainability.”

For more information email sustainability@brighton.ac.uk.