The Community Base charity centre on Queens Road will be hoping for a burning summer this year after applying for 16 solar power panels to be installed on their roof.

The application for the panels has been submitted to the Brighton and Hove City Council and is under consideration. A decision is expected on the 1st of April.

Community Base is a business centre housing 26 community and voluntary groups in Brighton and Hove.

The prominent site on Queens Road is already using several methods of energy saving along side their plans for the solar panels.

Julia Reddaway, the Community Base’s interim director said: “The whole building is focused on being as energy efficient as possible; we have night storage heaters, motion sensing lights and new efficient hand dryers.

“The idea for the solar panels came from our directors and trustees as part of a planned programme to reduce our carbon footprint.”

The panels are being installed by Southern Solar who estimated that they will generate an average of 3000 units of electricity per month. If the estimate is correct Community Base will save £300 a month in energy costs from the panels alone.

Reddaway also added: “We don’t get any government funding for these energy saving projects, but we do receive what is called a feed-in tariff for the power generated by our solar panels. This means the centre will receive around 40p for every unit of electricity we generate, regardless of whether we feed any of it into the national grid.”

The financial benefit for the centre coupled with the reduction of its carbon footprint makes the case for solar power strong, and in the current financial and economic climate Green Party Councillor Pete West believes Community Base sets a good example.

Cllr West for the St. Peter’s and North Laine ward said: “I’d like to see as many projects like this as possible around Brighton. I think there is great potential for reducing carbon emissions in the city centre; we really need to pull our finger out and generate more renewable energy.”

Cllr West also added that he would like to see Brighton and Hove City Council ‘taking a lead’ in reducing the costs of energy, particularly in council housing, around the city.

This is a timely development given Sunday’s news that Brighton is in competition with nine other cities to play home to Britain’s first solar-powered street.

In a government funded initiative, Ecovision will provide solar panels to a whole street to promote awareness about renewable energy.

For more information on planning in Brighton go to http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/ For information on Community Base go to http://www.communitybase.org/ For information on Ecovision go to http://www.ecovisionenergy.com/