Barnsley Football Club is to become the first in the country to be powered by solar energy.

Work will start next month installing photovoltaic panels on the roofs of two stands and the external wall of the south stand at Oakwell – enough to provide energy to for about 140 homes.

Electricity generated will be used within the ground, with any excess being fed back into the National Grid. It’s estimated it will save the club about half its electricity bills a year – equivalent to tens of thousands of pounds.

General manager Don Rowing said: “With energy costs spiraling and likely to continue that way it makes business sense to use the large amount of roof surface available to us to save the club money and also to reduce our carbon footprint.

“The icing on the cake is that the work is being done by a Barnsley company and that will help the local economy. This just shows what a green place Barnsley is and even though we are the Reds we can go green.”

Dodworth-based Solar Europa Limited is due to start work on the project, which is costing more than £1m, on May 9, with completion due in June. The panels on the south and east stands will generate about 0.5 megawatt of electricity.

The cost of the installation will be met by the company, which will recoup any money made selling electricity back to the National Grid via the Feed In Tariff.

David Hawkins, of Solar Europa, said: “I just hope that by doing this we can inspire other football clubs and other businesses to take advantage of the roofs they have. It could be a warehouse or office block roof – it doesn’t matter – it all helps cut bills and cut carbon dioxide emissions.”

Solar Europa, which manufactures its own solar panels, as well as installing them, receives business support from the Enterprising Barnsley programme.

Adrian Waite, who works for Barnsley Development Agency and Enterprising Barnsley, said: “Barnsley Development Agency provide business support to the football club and we introduced the benefits of solar power to the management team at Oakwell earlier this year.

“To their credit, Don and his staff realised the need to move fast on this opportunity, and a number of Barnsley based companies were invited to complete surveys.  We are delighted that Solar Europa has been selected for this high profile project.”

The Enterprising Barnsley programme offers business support to Barnsley businesses with growth potential. Enterprising Barnsley has attracted £2.89m investment from the European Regional Development Fund as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme. Enterprising Barnsley also runs networking events and provides office space throughout the borough.

For more information on Solar Europa go to www.solareuropa.co.uk

NOTE TO EDITORS

Don Rowing can be contacted on 01226 211300 or donrowing@barnsleyfc.co.uk or 07984 572739.

David Hawkins or his colleague Glyn Cooper can be contacted at Solar Europa on 01226 249852. David can also be contacted on david@solareuropa.co.uk

Adrian Waite can be contacted on 01226 787531 or adrianwaite@barnsley.gov.uk

Additional media contact: Kate Betts on 01226 766900 or 07910 165 444 or at kate@katebettsmedia.co.uk

Enterprising Barnsley is a partnership between Barnsley Development Agency, Barnsley Business and Innovation Centre and the University of Huddersfield ’s Barnsley Campus. It is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to provide an integrated programme of business support. For more information on Enterprising Barnsley go to www.enterprisingbarnsley.co.uk