Solar panels have been installed on 48 bungalows in Crook, County Durham, helping residents generate their own electricity at home.
Not-for-profit housing association believe housing contracted nearby Willington-based contractor Buston & Maughan to carry out the improvements.
The panels use daylight to generate free electricity that customers can use in their home, reducing the amount they need to buy from their energy supplier and helping them manage energy costs.
Surveys identified the bungalows as homes that could benefit from solar photovoltaic panels. Each received a 3kW system, and smoke alarms were upgraded during the work.
Daryl Reed, Project Manager at believe housing, said: “It’s great to see local contractor Buston & Maughan complete this work for our customers.
“Generating electricity at home can help residents rely less on energy from the grid and make more use of renewable energy.
“Many of the customers living in these bungalows are pensioners. With energy use higher during the colder months, they can begin making the most of the electricity they generate at home at a time when household energy costs are expected to increase.”
Chris Oxnard, Head of Decarbonisation at Buston & Maughan, said: “It’s been a good programme of work. We’ve had a team of subcontractors, all North East based, completing ten installs a week.
“Customer satisfaction has been really high. Residents have told us they’re pleased with how smoothly everything has gone and the difference the panels could make.
“Our Chief Executive and Director both grew up in Crook, so they were particularly pleased to make a difference for local people and help believe housing get all of its homes to EPC C by 2030.”
The upgrades are part of believe housing’s wider programme of energy efficiency improvements, which combines government funding with investment from the housing association to make homes warmer, healthier and more energy efficient.
The government funding was secured through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund by the North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub.
