Bus depot set for 600 community-owned solar panels

More than 600 community-owned solar panels are set to be installed on top of a bus depot.

Reading Community Energy Society (RCES) said the £207,000 scheme would see 609 panels fitted to the roof of the Reading Buses Depot in Great Knollys Street.

The society said once completed, the depot would be the biggest solar power plant in Reading town centre, and could generate enough energy to power about 80 homes.

It said the renewable energy produced would be used to supply the bus depot, with any excess electricity sold to the National Grid.

Tony Cowling, chair of RCES, said community energy offered "broad-ranging benefits".

"It reduces imported energy use and costs for both the host buildings and Reading as a whole, enables members to support local sustainability initiatives for a reasonable return, and supports wider sustainability initiatives locally," he added.

Local residents will have the opportunity to invest in the project and become shareholders.

Income from the bus depot and National Grid would then be used to gradually repay shareholders, as well as to maintain the scheme and fund further projects.

The depot scheme is a collaboration between RCES, Reading Borough Council and Reading Buses.

RCES is a Community Benefit Society - meaning it is a business run for charitable purposes.

It has so far installed community solar panels at 23 sites across Reading over the past decade, including at council buildings and at the town's university.

Alongside solar projects, the society has used community grant funding to invest more than £15,000 to support schools and community groups to fund energy-saving schemes, food-growing projects and educational workshops.