Rotherham leading the way on solar panels

More solar-power generating systems have been installed on houses in the area than anywhere else in Britain.

The move is being led by a Tankersley based company which is the country's biggest installer of electricity-generating solar-panels on domestic homes.

A Shade Greener has fitted around three hundred installations in Rotherham in the last four months and has plans to install two thousand within the next two years.

Managing director Stewart Davies said: “This is far more than anywhere else in the country.

“We are quickly turning this part of Yorkshire into the micro-generating capital of Britain.”

In some parts, entire streets are being covered, producing free electricity for their owners.

The company's success is down to the fact that it has come up with a formula for fitting the panels for free.

Large-scale domestic solar electricity systems which are fitted onto people’s roofs usually cost around £20,000.

But A Shade Greener, which is based at Maple Road in Tankersley,  realised that new subsidies for generating greener energy meant the firm could afford to install them for nothing.

The company lets the homeowner use all the electricity generated free of charge.

The firm gets a guaranteed payment through the scheme for any electricity that's produced, whether the home-owner uses it or not.

Managing director Stewart Davies said: “Demand for our panels has been incredible.

“Ultimately we plan to cover the whole country, but for now we are concentrating on the area closest to home.

“We already have plans to install two thousand systems around Rotherham but we're looking for thousands more.

“The housing in Rotherham is well-suited to our solar power panels systems, and we're inviting people in the town to get in touch with A Shade Greener.”

It is good news for the local economy too.

The company has taken on 70 staff—many of whom were unemployed and it has plans to recruit a hundred more to meet demand.

The Government's own target is for 750,000 micro-generating electricity systems within the next five years.

Stewart Davies said: “This is a new industry that is going to benefit UK homeowners to the tune of billions of pounds in savings on their electricity bills."

“It is also going to provide thousands of jobs in the future and here in Yorkshire we're right at the forefront of that development.”