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Home: Community full menu: Environmental grants and energy initiatives: Renewable energy

Kirklees Council renewable energy projects

Environment Unit - January 2013
environment.unit@kirklees.gov.uk

Renewable energy loans - RE-Charge scheme
The council's RE-Charge scheme offered loans to householders to install renewable energy and low carbon technologies on their own home. The scheme completed in 2011 and assisted 280 householders to install a variety of solar panels, biomass boilers and even one hydro-electricity scheme.

Kirklees has a large number of properties which are not suitable for traditional cavity wall insulation, these properties tend to have a poorer energy efficiency rating and are more expensive to heat. If the energy rating of these 'hard to treat' properties is to be raised then alternative measures, for example renewables, must be considered. Almost 70% of the properties which benefited from the Re-Charge scheme are hard to treat properties with solid stone walls.

More information: PDFCase Study: The RE-Charge Scheme (PDF 131 kb)

SunCities
Primrose Hill Solar Village SunCities is a European Commission funded project which began in 2000 and was completed in February 2006. The project aimed to install 3.05 megawatts of solar electricity on 2,000 homes in Germany, the Netherlands and Kirklees in the UK. In Kirklees this includes a total of 351kWp solar electricity systems and 63 solar thermal systems. Around 518 households were involved across Kirklees, including elderly tenants and families with young children. They will benefit from free solar electricity and can expect to save up to £50 a year on their electricity bills.

Through SunCities, Kirklees has installed 4.9% of the total solar electricity installed in the UK, making SunCities the largest domestic solar project in the UK. The project attracted funding of up to £1.8 million to Kirklees and attracted nationwide attention through winning an Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy, a British Renewable Energy Association Award and a Green Apple Award.

PDFCase study on Suncities (PDF 162kb)

Suncities - Sackville Street

The Sackville Street Solar Electricity (PV) scheme consists of a series of solar PV systems installed in January 2003 on 31 tenanted properties owned by Kirklees Community Association and managed by Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing in Ravensthorpe, West Yorkshire. This project was one of the first trials of solar electricity in domestic buildings in the UK (funded by the Department of Trade and Industry), which led to the establishment of the UK's Major (PV) Demonstration Programme.

PDFCase study on Sackville Street (PDF 103kb)

Suncities - Primrose Hill Solar Village

This initiative to create a solar village of 121 solar-powered homes was part of an overall regeneration scheme for the Primrose Hill area in the Kirklees District.

PDFCase study on Primrose Hill (PDF 81kb)

Suncities - Fernside Solar Project

This project created a solar village of 100 homes, including bungalows and flats, in the Fernside Estate, managed by Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing, in Almondbury, Huddersfield. Two nearby schools have also been supplied with domestic sized solar power systems which are now a valuable educational resource.

PDFCase study on Fernside (PDF 151kb)

Suncities - Care Homes

Roof integrated solar PV systems have been installed on two 40-bed new build care homes - Moorlands Grange in Netherton and Castle Grange in Newsome, approximately 4 miles from Huddersfield town centre; and on four new build sheltered housing bungalows - Mill Dale, Crescent Dale, Elm Grove and Orchard Grove in Heckmondwicke. The homes have been built on the sites of old homes and will provide a high quality care service to people in the Kirklees area through modern care facilities which will contribute to maintaining the dignity of residents, encouraging residents to interact in a comfortable setting and participate in modern life. Each home has a digital readout from the panels showing how much solar energy has been generated.

PDFCase study on Care Homes (PDF 46kb)
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Moldgreen Community Primary School
The new school at Moldgreen Through this project a 15.36 kWp roof integrated solar electricity system has been installed as part of the new build school. The school is an excellent site for a solar PV installation, it has a large south facing roof and no shading. Measures in addition to the solar panels include rainwater harvesting and recycling, automatic lighting controls and high efficiency heating. The building houses 380 pupils and 50 staff, the solar panels are an educational resource for the school and a demonstration project for the community, located in the heart of the Moldgreen, the project is highly visible. Funding of 50% of the project cost was received from the UK Government's Major Demonstration Programme.
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King James Science College and Lowerhouses J I & N
These schools were an integral part of the Fernside Solar Village project. Domestic size systems have been installed at each school with digital displays showing how much solar energy is being generated at each in order to maximise the educational benefits of renewable energy in school.

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