Households urged to use solar panels
Letters sent out to 30,000 homes seen as most suitable for conversion
LETTERS have been sent to tens of thousands of Portsmouth homes in the latest council effort to encourage people to install solar panels.
About 30,000 houses identified as being most suitable have been contacted since Portsmouth City Council launched its 'Switched on Solar' campaign earlier this year.
Its leader, councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, said the push was a key part of the authority's work to meet its 2030 net carbon zero target and that there had been a 'good' response from the public.
Switched on Solar assesses each house's potential for solar power to calculate estimates of energy production and both financial and environmental savings.
The scheme was introduced in response to concerns that people were unable to source unbiased information. More than 2,500 addresses in the city had been analysed since its launch in February.
But Cllr Vernon-Jackson said the council was continuing to encourage more people to look into the feasibility of using solar power with letters having been sent to 30,000 houses in the city the council deemed could benefit from the technology.
'This is being driven by me,' he said. 'We have had solar panels on our roof for six years and I now use them to charge my car.
'I don't understand why I'm still - all these years later - the only in our road with them.
'What I want the council to be doing is telling people what steps they can be taking to reduce their carbon footprint.
'So we have been writing to lots of people, offering them an audit so they can fully understand what they can do at their homes. That's not just solar panels, it's also things like insulation and batteries.
'The response has been quite good with many taking this up and that's great to see.'
He added that there was 'huge potential' for solar power in Portsmouth due to its geography and that with only a very small percentage of homes having panels, scaling this up would be a key part of the council's work to meet its 2030 target to be net carbon zero.
Earlier this year it was revealed that Portsmouth had spent more than any other council in the country – almost £5m – on solar panels