A council has installed solar panels on one of its offices as part of a bid to reach net zero emissions.

Panels installed at Cotswold District Council’s Trinity Road base in Cirencester are expected to save the authority around £42,000 a year.

The council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and has since installed a range of energy-saving technologies.

Councilor Mike McKeown said: “Climate change is a global challenge, but its effects are being felt right here in the Cotswolds, whether from more frequent incidents of flooding or changes to our native wildlife.”

The authority said the power generated by the panels is expected to broadly meet, and sometimes exceed, the building’s electricity needs during the summer.

The new panels are predicted to generate 141,000 kWh of electricity per year – providing a carbon dioxide saving of around 29 tonnes of greenhouse gases.

It will likely take five years to recoup the cost of the installation.

Mr McKeown said: “It’s fantastic that we can now deploy green technology for our Trinity Road site, which will help us make the council’s operations more sustainable and deliver significant savings on the day-to-day running cost of this building.”

Last year the council launched Cotswold Home Solar to help residents find suitable solar energy options for their homes.

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