Rooftop solar generates 1 million kilowatt hours of clean energy

Five of our leisure centres with rooftop solar panels have generated 1 million kWh of renewable energy.

The power generated is enough to power 370 homes or 500 electric vehicles for a year.

Withdean Leisure Centre’s solar panels produced the most, with more than 500,000 kWh of electricity generated.

Moulsecoomb Leisure Centre, Portslade Sports Centre, Prince Regent Sports Complex and Stanley Deason Leisure Centre generated the rest.

Rolling out solar PV on non-domestic buildings

Our leisure centres are part of the biggest rollout of solar PV on the council's non-domestic public buildings to date.

The solar power generated is helping to reduce operating costs and emissions – 503,863 kg of C02e have been saved so far.

Leisure centres are particularly energy intensive, making this a significant contribution to the journey to Net Zero on our own buildings. 

Cutting costs and lowering emissions

Almost all (97%) of the energy generated from solar panels on the Prince Regent Sports Complex will be consumed by the facility, saving C02 emissions equivalent to planting 1,138 trees every year.

Matt Wickham, Chief Operating Officer at Freedom Leisure, the not-for-profit leisure trust that operates the facilities, said: “This is a fantastic milestone for Brighton & Hove’s leisure centres. Generating 1 million kilowatt hours of clean energy shows the power of partnership in tackling climate change. These solar panels are cutting costs, lowering emissions and making our centres more sustainable for the future.”

The latest solar installations are the first in the council’s portfolio to have been fitted with power optimisers which enables each panel to act independently. This means that if one panel is faulty or covered in debris it doesn’t affect the generation from the rest of the panels. 

It also allows us to pinpoint any maintenance issues with the system as well as receive performance data for each individual panel.

Any excess electricity generated is exported back to the grid, providing an income to help operational costs.

We've installed 730 solar panels on the rooftops of our non-domestic buildings, including leisure centres, offices, a social care facility and a nursery.