British Land has installed 1,100 solar panels at its 337,000 sq ft Serpentine Green shopping centre in Peterborough, in one of the UK’s largest retail rooftop solar projects.
The installation, managed by Syzygy Renewables, covers 19,500 sq ft – equivalent to nine tennis courts. The solar photovoltaic system will generate around 275,000 kWh of electricity every year, which is enough to power 85 homes for a year or 1.2m miles of charge for an electric car.
During summer, 22% of the annual electricity demand for the centre’s common areas and car park will be met by solar energy.
This is expected to save 140 tonnes of CO2 annually and 3,289 tonnes over the next 25 years, equivalent to taking 2,155 cars off the road.
Matthew Webster, head of wellbeing and futureproofing for British Land, said: “Serpentine Green’s solar photovoltaic system further demonstrates our commitment to future-proofing our assets – unlocking additional income streams while helping to protect us and our customers against risks such as increasing energy prices.
Alongside identifying renewable sources of energy, our well-established energy efficiency programme means we carefully manage our energy consumption – this programme has already delivered £13m of gross savings for our occupiers.”
John MacDonald-Brown, chief executive for Syzygy Renewables, said: “It is encouraging to see large commercial real estate investors like British Land seeking to reduce their carbon footprints and future-proof their assets.”
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