Hub is ideal site for solar panels

I see that the House of Fraser has plans to open a vast new distribution centre in ourcity, employing up to 1,000 people (19th May).

It is being heralded as a flagship for the Government’s business strategy.

The article had me wondering whether anyone has considered installing solar panels on its roof?

At 750,000 square feet there is surely an enormous potential for electricity generation.

It would be an area comparable to that of the defunct farmland energy park, upon which the council apparently wasted £3 million in a very fishy-sounding fiasco.

The advantage of roofspace is that it is unobtrusive and does not use up farmland unnecessarily.

Would it not have been a better idea to have sited those panels on top of the Amazon, Debenham and IKEA warehouses?

It is curious that solar pan-

e ls are seen generally as appropriate and profitable only in small-scale installations such as private homes. One wonders why they are not more prevalent on top of industrial units, supermarkets, hospitals, schools etc. This is an area in which House of Fraser can lead the way. If not a good investment then why not?

There may indeed be very good reasons to build wind farms in response to climate change, but, before we discuss them, let us be confident that we are not wasting good opportunities to exploit the photovoltaic potential of sunshine.

Can the council defend its record in this respect? Tim Hughes Park Road Peterborough