Recent good weather has helped Tewkesbury Borough Council's solar canopy surpass half a million kilo watt hours (500,000 kWh) of electricity generated since it was installed in summer 2022.

The solar canopy, installed over the borough council's staff car park, helps the council and Tewkesbury Leisure Centre to reduce their carbon footprints and provide ongoing financial savings.

To date, the solar canopy has generated £135,150 of electricity, 60% of which is used by the leisure centre, with 40% used to power Tewkesbury's Public Services Centre - home to police, NHS, Tewkesbury Growth Hub, Jobcentre Plus and council workers.

Christopher Atkinson, carbon reduction programme officer at Tewkesbury Borough Council, said: "The power generated by the canopy each year is equivalent to around 65% of the council's electricity demand. By using less energy from the grid, we consume less fossil fuel and the council's greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by over 60 tonnes a year."

The price of electricity has varied since the installation in 2022, but the financial savings to date are equivalent to over £50,000 per year.

Tewkesbury Borough Council received a grant of £284,200 from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme towards the solar canopy, and the electricity generated complements the council's more recently installed air source heating system.

Christopher continued: "Power generated by the canopy is routed through two inverters, which switch the power generated from DC (direct current) to AC (alternating current).

"The first graph, taken from one of our two inverters, shows how energy production begins at dawn and increases gradually throughout the morning. The peak at noon is exactly what we'd expect around this time of year, when the days and nights are broadly equal. In this graph, a small cloud passed over to spoil the perfect curve!

"The second graph shows the day-by-day picture throughout March. Does anyone recall what they did on Sunday, March 23? We'd wager not much, as it looks like it was overcast all day! That aside, this March has been the best for energy consumption in a few years."