Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

500 solar panels installed on council houses across Aberdeenshire

More than 500 solar panels have been installed so far.
More than 500 solar panels have been installed so far.

More than 500 solar panels have been installed on council houses across Aberdeenshire thanks to a partnership between the council and Mears Group.

They are working together to improve the energy efficiency of social housing across Huntly, Inverurie, Kemnay and Turriff respectively.

The installation of the panels, which are called photovoltaic (PV) systems, significantly improves energy efficiency and can save approximately 0.8 tonnes of C02 per year for every home.

Upgrade of 1,000 homes

PV roofs also reduce the cost of energy throughout the day, bringing down costs for tenants.

Working with a specialist contractor, Mears Group is currently installing 14 PV roofs a week and is on target to complete the upgrade of 1,000 homes in Aberdeenshire next year.

The project is part of Aberdeenshire Council’s Strategic Housing Investment Plan. Picture by Paul Glendell / DC Thomson.

The delivery of this contract supports Aberdeenshire Council’s Strategic Housing Investment Plan, which focuses on delivering high-quality, energy efficient affordable housing in the region.

‘Energy efficiency improvements’

An Aberdeenshire Council spokesman said: “Aberdeenshire Council is committed to undertaking energy efficiency improvements to help reduce running costs, carbon emissions and the energy used in our council houses and flats as part of our improvement works plan.

Solar panels can save households a lot of money. Picture by Jason Hedges.

“We are very pleased to be working with various partners, including Mears, to install a number of energy efficient measures within our homes and deliver measurable benefits to our tenants, and we are currently applying for additional funding to allow further improvement works to be undertaken.”

Mears Group general manager, Marcus Hainey added: “With an increase in the cost of living, reducing household bills is more important than ever, and PV roofing has proven to reduce costs for the council and tenants.”

Conversation