Huge photovoltaic panels installed on carriage museum

The panels have been fitted on the roof of the National Trust’s carriage museum at Arlington Court near Barnstaple.

For the scheme 86 panes of glass were swapped for laminates with 27 photovoltaic cells in each unit allowing 30% light transmission.

The 113 m2 installation has the potential to generate up to 6.3megawatt hours of energy each year, saving the museum about £600 from its electricity bill and adding an income of around £2,270 a year by feeding energy back into the grid.

The project has been funded by sales of National Trust Green Energy which is supplied by the charity’s energy partner, npower, and raises money to support low and zero carbon energy savings projects at Trust properties.

Arlington Court property manager, Ana Chylak, said: “We have worked hard across the property to reduce our energy consumption and it has already really made a difference to our bills.

“With these panels we can make a small contribution to the power we use as well as protecting our amazing carriages.”

“The completion of the work comes at the same time as the Trust and npower announce the extension of their partnership for another two years.”

npower spokesperson Matthew Cole, added: “It’s great that customers who choose National Trust Green Energy are getting to see these big investments in renewable energy technologies at their favourite Trust places.

“The new agreement means more customers can get green electricity and we’ll be able to improve the carbon footprint of more Trust properties.”

Luke Walsh