Portsmouth: Work to put in 8,900 solar panels at business park starts

Thousands of angled solar panels will sit atop jet black steel supports in three car parks

Work to put more than 8,900 solar panels on roofs and car parks is under way in Portsmouth.

The Lakeside North Harbour project will see 1,820 panels put on five buildings and 7,105 on canopies over spaces at three car parks at the business park.

Portsmouth City Council said they were expected to provide enough power run 1,300 three-bedroom homes for a year.

The work started on Monday and is expected to be finished by autumn 2024.

The city council claims once finished it will be one of the largest solar parking canopy projects in the UK and would reduce its carbon footprint by more than 860 tonnes per annum.

Funded by the city council's Low Carbon Projects Fund, the authority said power from the panels will be enough to power all 55 businesses at the site.

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Councillor Kimberly Barrett, cabinet member for climate change and greening the city, said:  "To begin working on possibly the largest solar canopy project in the UK is a great step in coming closer to our goal of Net Zero by 2030 and using greener energy in the city."  

The project also includes batteries to store excess solar energy and electric vehicle (EV) charging points.

The authority is planning to have about 40,000 solar panels on local authority buildings by the end of 2024.