THE solar panels for the roofs of the Bluebell Railway’s Locomotive Workshop and Above Workshop Facility at Sheffield Park arrived in May and have now been installed and commissioned.
Ordered in the latter half of last year, the lead time has been longer than anticipated owing to the huge demand for them following the steep rise in electricity prices in early 2022. The payback period is expected to be approximately three years.
Roger Kelly, Bluebell Railway Preservation Society trustee said: “In the middle of a sunny day they can generate nearly half the power the railway is consuming at Sheffield Park at any one time. On such days the saving in the cost of the power we would otherwise take from the National Grid is more than £100 per day. Even in winter they will be saving something.
“Unless electricity prices make an equally dramatic fall to the rise they made 12 months ago, the installation should pay for itself in a little over three years and then continue to save us money for at least another 20 years. As a business, the railway does not benefit from price caps which apply to domestic consumers.”