Historic building goes solar

Published by Natalie Missenden for Tamworth borough Council in Local Government and also in Environment, Housing

One of Tamworth’s most historic buildings has gone green - with the installation of 60 solar panels. 

Tamworth Borough Council worked alongside the Thomas Guy Almshouses to help them make their green future a reality. 

The original Almshouses were built in 1678 by hospital founder Thomas Guy. They were demolished in 1912 and rebuilt in the 'Free Gerogian' style of the original building.

Now they have been brought right up to date with the installation of solar panels, which will allwo the Almshouses to generate its own electricity, as well as selling some back to the National Grid, freeing up funds to make more improvements to the building. 

The Almshouses were awarded £500 in support from Sustainability West Midlands (SWM) to develop their work on going green. This forms part of the council’s energy efficiency campaign - Home Energy Advice Tamworth (HEAT), which provides help and advice on making homes more energy efficient.

 The work to install the solar panels were funded by the Almshouses and New World Solar installed the new technology.

 Claire Keeling, the lead officer on Tamworth Borough Council’s HEAT campaign, said: “To see the Almshouses realise their dream and achieve their goal of becoming green has been fantastic. The panels will help make a big difference to the residents living there and hopefully they will see a good return on their panels.”