Hertfordshire County Council has earmarked £505,000 to invest in two solar carports at its Stevenage headquarters.

The structures would be built on two areas of open-air parking, to the rear of the council's Farnham House and at the entrance to Robertson House.

As well as providing cover for a total of around dozens of cars, officers estimate the arrays of solar panels could generate around 140 kWp (kilowatt peak) of electricity.

The power generated would be fed into the supply for the council buildings, with estimates suggesting the move could save the council tens of thousands of pounds a year in energy costs.

Executive member for sustainability, Cllr Adrian England, says the site is an ideal location for an array of solar panels and that officers have been planning the project for some time.

And he says the choice of the site acknowledges residents' preference for solar panels to be in urban areas, rather than covering farmland.

"Anything we can do to generate renewable electricity is, per se, a good idea," said Cllr England.

"The benefit of this is that we get the generation of electricity that can go straight into the building – and reduce Hertfordshire's heating and electricity bills.

"And it also gives an element of rain protection – and general weather protection – for the cars.

"One of the things residents say, when they see solar farms on fields, is that they should be on roofs and should be in car parks first.

"So Hertfordshire is listening to residents and making sure that whenever possible we are getting renewables from roofs and, where possible, car parks."

Cllr England acknowledges that £505k "is by any definition a lot of money". But he points to the savings it will generate for the council, in terms of both finance and energy use.

And he says the £505k price tag will be recouped in energy savings, with previous sustainability schemes already reaping financial savings for the county council.

"What we are spending on de-carbonisation is saving the council a lot of money in energy bills – and the council really needs to save a lot of money," he said.

"The sustainability measures that have been done over the last period of years are now helping the council to stay solvent."

Plans to invest in the carports were listed in the latest sustainability progress report presented to the latest meeting of the council's environment, transport and growth cabinet panel. (November 5)

Climate change and environmental sustainability have been identified as one of the new Liberal Democrat administration's top three priorities for the county council.

The purpose of the report was to update councillors on progress in the last six months, since the change in leadership at the county council.

To support strategic delivery, the council has allocated a capital fund of £10m and revenue funding of £2m, as part of its Sustainable Hertfordshire Central Fund.

As well as the solar panel carports, in the past six months, £583k capital and £15k revenue commitments have been made for nature recovery programmes.

A further £300k has been allocated to expand the school ventilation project, said to benefit more than 30,000 children.

In addition, £130k has been allocated for 'battery retrofit feasibility and installations' at up to five sites – and £11k to explore power purchase agreements.

Meanwhile, the report highlights ongoing work to increase energy efficiency of council buildings – with ongoing work to install solar panels at 41 sites, upgrading heating controls at eight and adding LED lighting at four.

As a result of the move away from County Hall, the council claims it is saving 190 tCO2e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) per year and £113,000 annually..

Also included in the report are references to low-carbon transport initiatives in the county and changes to waste management processes.

And it highlights initiatives that include nature recovery and tree planting initiatives, as well as school ventilation projects.