Who would have thought the Salford sunshine would be a money maker?
But sunny Salford has saved the taxpayer £5,410.74 in just 11 months.
£2,186.60 has been shaved off the council’s electricity bill since solar panels were fitted to the town hall roof last autumn. And an extra £3,224.14 of power generated by the sun has been sold back to the National Grid.
In one week in April, the solar panels generated 930 kwh of electricity – nearly enough energy to power a house for four months.
The council now wants to help people cut their energy bills as part of Big Energy Saving Week 2015. They have teamed up with Community Switch to make saving money easy. In the past 12 months 535 people have been helped to change their energy supplier and saved over £40,000. One Salford householder is now saving over £223 a year on their fuel bill.
Councillor Derek Antrobus, Executive Lead Member for Strategic Planning at Salford City Council, said: said: “The solar panels have saved thousands of pounds, but there are simple steps people can take to dramatically cut their energy costs.
“Check that you are not paying too much money on your energy bills as simply changing supplier could save you hundreds of pounds.
“And switch off lights and electrical appliances when you are not using them. The money is better in your pocket than burning vital energy away.”
Ten top tips for saving energy
1 If you have a timer on your central heating system, set the heating and hot water to come on only when required: 30 minutes before you get up in the morning and set it to switch off 30 minutes before you are due to leave.
2 If you have a hot water tank, set the cylinder thermostat to either 60 degrees Celsius or 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Cylinder thermostats are usually fitted between a quarter and a third of the way up the hot water cylinder.
3 Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows and check for draughts around windows and doors.
4 Always turn off the light when you leave a room.
5 Don’t leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave laptops and mobile phones on charge unnecessarily.
6 When you are doing the washing try to fill up the machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher. One full load uses less energy than two half loads.
7 Try and ensure that you only boil as much water as you need.
8 A dripping hot water tap can waste enough energy in a single week to fill half a bath. Fix leaking taps and make sure they are fully turned off.
9 Dry your clothes outside during nice weather so you don’t need to use your tumble drier.
10 Do a home energy check to find out about savings of up to £130 a year on household energy bills. Visit the Energy Savings Trust home energy check at http://hec.est.org.uk. Use this check to get a full report with details of your home’s energy use and the savings you could make.
