Solar rescue: ambulance service in the UK powered by Conergy rooftop installations

25 June 2013

250kw plants have been fitted by Conergy Partner Photon Energy supply emergency centres.

East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust is set to rescue its patients with solar power from Conergy modules on their rooftop. Five solar arrays with a total capacity of 250 kilowatts featuring a total of 1,000 Conergy "P-Series" modules have been fitted to the roofs of NHS control centres in Braintree, Norwich, Luton, Melbourne and Welwyn Garden City. These emergency centres co-ordinate over half a million call-outs a year across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. They have been fitted by one of the UK's leading installers and Conergy partner, Photon Energy.

The centres, which operate 24 hours a day, will thus be able to generate 195,000 kilowatt hours of clean solar electricity a year. Moreover, the installation cut the Trust's carbon emissions by 103 tonnes a year, equivalent to taking 20 cars off the road.

Andy Sanders, head of estates, East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: "Photon Energy's installations were completed in just five weeks, within budget and with minimum disruption to site users. The quality of the inverters and Conergy panels gives me confidence that this has been an excellent investment for the Trust, which will enable us to release finances to support our frontline emergency service."

Jonathan Bates, Managing Director, Photon Energy said: "East of England Ambulance Service should be applauded for looking after the interests of patients and taxpayers by having the foresight to invest. The government says average domestic electricity prices soared 45 per cent from 2006 to 2012. Projects like this are the perfect way to hedge against even steeper price hikes in the future."

Robert Goss, Managing Director, Conergy UK added: "The health service has thousands of acres of rooftop which are currently going unused. Solar means NHS organisations can cut their energy bills through feed-in tariffs and self-consumption, which makes them more independent from rising cost of electricity from the grid – safeguarding money for frontline services at the same time. The rest of the NHS, from Inverness to Kent, should follow leaders like the East of England Ambulance Service Trust. You don't need sunny weather as the panels work even in cloudy conditions."