Rochdale Borough Council have recently broken ground on what is to be the UK’s first publicly owned commercial solar farm. In its quest to become the UK’s most environmentally green local authority, the Council have undertaken a project to develop a sector of waste ground into a 250 kWp commercial solar plant.

The land, previously used for waste disposal was rendered unsuitable for much due to contamination. However, Solar PV became the go to choice when these facts were presented. The choice for solar meant that the previously unusable ground which could not be left with free access to it due to the residual contaminants, would once again serve a purpose.

The 250kW project is the first commercial solar install in the UK that will be publicly owned. By choosing solar panels the council have found a use for the waste ground. The council are also looking forward to making clean renewable energy from a site that was previously untouchable. In addition to the free energy the council are now producing they can now receive payments for each unit of energy they produce under the governments Feed-In-Tariff scheme which is available on both domestic and commercial solar panel systems.

Not only are Rochdale Borough Council harvesting the rewards from this ground mounted system, but they have also revealed plans to add another 100kWp system to a council owned sports village. Rochdale council are striving to achieve the title of the UK’s “greenest” council and have pledged to reduce co2 by 48% by 2020. They also revealed plans to continue investing into renewable energy sources to fund municipal services. By choosing to generate their own electricity, the council can also offset future energy price increases and have a sense of energy security in the coming years.

Many other businesses and local authorities are eligible to benefit from the feed in tariff CLICK HERE to see how it could help your business or local authority.