City Crematorium Solar Panels

For the last 9 months 66 photovoltaic panels mounted on the south facing roof at the city crematorium have been busy using energy from the sun to help cut power bills and the amount of carbon used at Inverness Crematorium.

The installation cost of £61,000 has been part funded by £30,500 from the Scottish Governments Low Carbons Building Programme. The system, which directly feeds into the building, includes an internal display panel which shows staff at a glance the amount of energy being generated, cumulative amounts and carbon savings.

The estimated annual energy yield is 9100 (kwh) per year which equates to an approximate saving of 4 tonnes of carbon per year.

The Crematorium is open for funerals six days a week. The Highland Council's Burial Cremations Officer Jeff Fridge said: "When the panels went up on the roof earlier this year we received some very supportive comments from people who thought it was a great idea. Since the equipment has been installed we have found it interesting to monitor the amount of energy produced on a daily basis which means a reducing in our energy bills as well as being good news for the environment."

The total of electricity so far generated by the panels is 8752 kwh which represents CO2 emission savings of 4988 kg.

Leader of The Highland Council and Chairman of the Climate Change Working Group, Councillor Michael Foxley visited the Crematorium to see the panels. He said: "The Council is committed to tackling high fuel use and we are making significant progress in the energy management of our buildings which is especially important given the rising costs on energy bills. Getting part funding for this project is a real bonus and it is encouraging to know that the system installed here is already proving to be an effective way of supplementing electricity from the grid."