Member Article

Hull’s businesses turn out for ‘green’ energy seminar

Dozens of delegates from Hull firms turned out to learn how they can save cash on their fuel bills and generate a lucrative income stream at the same time.

The business people attended a breakfast seminar at The Deep’s business centre to learn more about what solar PV panel installations can do for them.

The seminar was organised by Beverley-based Discover Energy and attendees also learned how they could finance an installation from NatWest Bank and Hull solicitors Rollits explained what the potential legal issues could be for a business wanting to install panels.

Martin Bleasby, from Discover Energy, said: “The seminar was to explain why solar PV panels are an attractive proposition to a growing number of companies in Hull, including The Deep.

“Indeed, the decision by The Deep to install solar PV panels is a marvellous platform for us to educate other businesses in Hull about the benefits of solar panel installation because it is what we specialise in. We have installed everything from small installations to large ground mounted solar panel farms.”

Colin Brown, The Deep’s CEO, told the seminar’s delegates that the public have a growing expectation for businesses to be environmentally-friendly and he added that The Deep was an environmental charity looking to improve its own ‘green credentials’.

He added: “We have been considering installing solar PV panels for some time and we feel that with the technology and the payback period that the right time is now.

“We are an environmental charity and though we have always bought ‘green’ electricity we’ve never had the opportunity to create it for ourselves so when it came to finding a firm that appreciated installing large industrial applications, we found that Discover Energy is a firm with the necessary experience in installing these types of big arrays.”

Mr Brown added that the popular tourist venue had looked at installing wind turbines but were concerned about the impact on neighbouring homes and businesses as well as utilising tidal power.

He explained: “Solar panels give us the best of both worlds and will generate a considerable amount of electricity for us.”

In the coming months, Discover Energy will install more than 200 solar PV panels on the roof of The Deep’s business centre and the benefits include free electricity for the attraction and an income from the energy they do not use.

Increasing numbers of Hull firms are installing solar panels to the roof of their premises and helping Discover Energy go from strength-to-strength – so much so that the firm will be creating more jobs in the near future.

Mr Bleasby said: “We were pleased that so many Hull firms came along to the seminar and the feedback has been promising – there’s no doubt that the popularity of solar panels on business roofs in the area will increase.”

For more information about solar panel installation and how effective they can be for a business, contact Martin or Beth on (01377) 219066 or visit their website. A video from the seminar explaining the benefits of solar power is now available for viewing on YouTube.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Steve Lumley .