Solar to the rescue for ambulance service

East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust is set to gain at least £800,000 thanks to solar panels manufactured by Conergy, Europe’s largest supplier of solar technology for large-scale projects, and fitted by one of the UK’s leading installers, Photon Energy.

The savings will derive from a combination of feed-in-tariff revenue and lower electricity bills.

Five solar arrays featuring 200 Conergy P-Series modules generating 50kW each have been fitted to the roofs of NHS control centres in Braintree, Norwich, Luton, Melbourne and Welwyn Garden City, which co-ordinate over half a million call-outs a year across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

The centres, which operate 24 hours a day, will thus be able to generate 195,000 kilowatt hours of clean solar electricity a year. Besides the energy savings, the Trust will receive money from the government’s feed-in-tariff for renewably-generated electricity and by selling unused electricity to the National Grid.

All told, the projects will deliver cost savings and new revenues of £42,000 a year over 20 years, and cut the Trust’s carbon emissions by 103 tonnes a year, equivalent to taking 20 cars off the road. With payback in five years, money will also be freed for investment in frontline services.

Andy Sanders, Head of Estates, East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: "Photon Energy's installations were completed in just five weeks, within budget and with minimum disruption to site users. The quality of the inverters and Conergy panels gives me confidence that this has been an excellent investment for the Trust, which will enable us to release finances to support our frontline emergency service."

Jonathan Bates, Managing Director, Photon Energy said: “East of England Ambulance Service should be applauded for looking after the interests of patients and taxpayers by having the foresight to invest in order to save. The government says average domestic electricity prices soared 45 per cent from 2006 to 2012. Projects like this are the perfect way to hedge against even steeper price hikes in the future.

Robert Goss, Managing Director, Conergy UK added: “The health service has thousands of acres of rooftop which are currently going unused. Solar means NHS organisations can cut their energy bills and benefit from new revenue streams, safeguarding money for frontline services. The rest of the NHS, from Inverness to Kent, should follow leaders like the East of England Ambulance Service Trust. You don’t need sunny weather as the panels work even in cloudy conditions.”