Solar Panels Cut Council HQ's Electricity Bill In Half

Swale Borough Council (SBC) say they've "slashed the electricity bills" at its main office in half, saving taxpayers more than £9,000 in less than four months.

Swale Borough Council (SBC) say they've "slashed the electricity bills" at its main office in half, saving taxpayers more than £9,000 in less than four months.

More than 200 solar panels were installed earlier this year on the roof of Swale House and have cut the building's energy bill by 55% between late March and June 2026.

This saved the council £7,262 compared to the same period last year.

The system is also creating a new stream of income that further offsets the cost of running the council’s office.

On sunny days when the panels produce more power than the office needs, the system automatically exports the extra electricity back into the national grid and ,so far, the council has sold 13,850 kWh of spare energy, which will bring in an extra £1,864 to help offset operating costs.

Swale Borough Council told SFM News "because the system reduces costs and creates income so quickly, the project is currently on track to completely pay for itself far quicker than predicted.This rapid return guarantees financial value for local people, making sure the building remains as cheap to operate as possible for the future. Along with the strictly financial benefits, the upgrade delivers on the council's climate change commitments."

The panels have already stopped 13,000 kg of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere - the equivalent of planting 806 trees or driving 195,000km the council say.

Cllr Dolley Wooster, Chair of SBC's Environmental Services and Climate Change Committee, told SFM News: "While we have all been trying to stay cool during the recent heatwaves our solar panels have been hard at work turning the sunshine into free power for our office. In less than four months, we’ve cut our electricity bill in half and even sold our extra power back to the grid."

She went on to add: "The results are better than we expected. If we continued at this rate the panels will pay for themselves in around three years’ time, making this an effective investment that also heavily reduces our carbon footprint. This investment to save shows we can make Swale House much cheaper to run, providing best value for local people, while operating in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way.”

Swale Borough Council committed to a climate and ecological emergency in June 2019. The updated 2025 Climate and Ecological Emergency Action Plan targets net-zero council operations by 2035 and borough-wide carbon neutrality by 2045, focusing on sustainable transport, air quality, energy-efficient housing, and local industry decarbonisation. You can find out more about Swale Borough Council's commitments here: https://cee.swale.gov.uk/what-were-doing