Salix Homes Install Solar Panels Across Salford – Here’s What it Means for Residents
Salix Homes has installed solar panels on homes across Salford – saving hundreds of pounds for customers.
They recently completed solar panel installations to 49 properties after securing funding through the government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF).
As part of a consortium led by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Salix Homes is improving its housing stock’s energy efficiency with government SHDF funding. During the wave one programmes, GMCA asked if we had any projects that could be completed quickly.
We were already delivering an EWI programme as part of the Wave 1 consortium, and based on that experience, we could not guarantee delivery of a similar program due to supply chain issues and PAS2035 requirements.
Supply chain readiness sped processes up
Speaking to Housing Industry Leaders, David Malsom, Sustainability Manager at Salix Homes explained: “However, speaking with our existing supply chain, we determined that we could deliver a PV installation programme quickly since we already had a long list of properties that met the programme criteria from our previous modelling.
“We used this long list as a reference to develop a PV scheme with reference to roof surveys, orientations, and estimates of PV size, we also had to make sure each property started with an EPC D or lower and post works would be at least an EPC C.”
We proposed to GMCA a relatively small project of 50 PV arrays to be completed within 4 months, our first retrofitted PV installations to traditional homes. We didn’t want to overpromise and under deliver
“As we all know, we need to plan for the worst and hope for the best; however, working with good partners and a focused team we mobilised and installed solar PV arrays in 50 properties within the funding timeframes.”
Customers say they’re already seeing the benefits on their energy bills. Julie Pemberton lives in Weaste and is thrilled with the eco-improvements to her home. She said: “I have had the solar panels installed now for several months and I’m saving roughly £4 to £5 per week on my electricity. I know this as fact, as being on a pre-payment metre allows me to see my usage and expenditure.
“Having the solar panels installed will save me over £200 per year and helps with climate change – it’s a win-win situation.”
Customer satisfaction could fuel wider roll out
Julie added: “The whole process from start to finish lasted just five hours. The teams of workmen were excellent – extremely professional, knowledgeable, courteous and respectful. The whole team ensured there was minimal disruption or mess to my home – you could not have guessed that any work had been carried out internally or externally.”
As part of the installation, the solar panels are fitted to the roof of the property and generate electricity from sunlight during daylight hours.
Terry Kidman, Contracts Manager at Emanuel Whittaker, said: “Once again we were delighted to be given the opportunity to make a difference to the lives of the residents in Salford and help Salix Homes towards achieving their carbon neutrality targets.
“At the same time we managed to undertake a number of enhancements to the ventilation of the properties that we hope will contribute to both the health and wellbeing of the residents, and the fabric of the buildings themselves.”
Salix Homes secured £236,000 from the government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) to help fund the project, following a successful bid from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) on behalf of social housing providers across Greater Manchester.
The SHDF scheme provides financial support to social housing providers and local authorities to undertake energy efficiency and decarbonisation measures.
Cllr Tom Ross, GMCA lead for the Green City Region, said: “Ongoing work to reduce the energy used in homes across Greater Manchester is playing a vital role in reducing both carbon emissions and energy bills, helping make our city-region a greener and fairer place for all. It’s fantastic to see how tenants are already benefitting from the many improvements being made to their homes, all whilst supporting the growth of the retrofit employment sector and contributing to Greater Manchester’s long-term environmental vision – to be carbon neutral by 2038.”
The solar panel installations are part of wider energy efficiency improvements being carried out to homes across Salford, which also includes external wall and loft insulation, new doors and windows, heat pumps and smart sensors.
The next major decarbonisation project for Salix Homes is a £10 million eco-transformation at neighbouring tower blocks Grey Friar Court and White Friar Court, which is also being partially funded via a SHDF grant.
The planned improvement work includes external wall and roof insulation, new windows and ventilation and an eco-friendly ground source heating system, making the homes greener and more energy efficient.
On the importance of bringing residents on board with the journey to net zero, David explained: “After reviewing lessons learned, we found that you cannot give residents too much information too early regarding the climate emergency and any proposed improvement works.
Communication with customers is crucial. This means having honest conversations with our customers about the challenges that we face as providers to deliver our green ambitions, the opportunities that retrofit presents and critically, the disruption that residents can expect
Salix Homes was part of the Social Housing Tenants Climate Jury with the Northern Housing Consortium which explored how residents, social landlords and others can work together to tackle climate change in homes and neighbourhoods, so we continue to take on board the learnings and recommendations from that.
There’s no legal requirement for customers to let us carry our decarbonisation work in their home, so refusing to have the work done, is and will continue to be an issue across the sector.
