Richmond Fire Station has put in place leading edge technology to help lower carbon emissions and combat climate change. Eighty square metres of the station’s roof are now covered with around 80 photo voltaic panels, which convert daylight into electricity.

Solar power will generate about three quarters of the station’s electricity. The rest will be provided by British renewable energy supplier Good Energy, making the station’s electricity supply 100 percent green.

London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority Chair Val Shawcross said: “This is an important step toward meeting targets on lowering carbon emissions, which are the key to tackling climate change. Richmond Fire Station has shown it is possible to run fire services on clean energy.

“This exciting scheme is part of a much wider strategy by the Authority to increase the use of sustainable energy across its estate. We are committed to meeting the Mayor's environmental objectives for London, so we are investing in energy management and sustainability. Our first solar thermal and wind turbine-powered stations come on line next year and we have plans for a special fund to spread energy saving schemes across the estate over the next couple of years.”

The roof will generate around 11,000 kilowatt hours a year, equivalent to the electricity used by 2.8 average households and enough to run 55 TVs for a year.

It will cut Richmond Fire Station’s annual carbon emissions by 4.8 tonnes - approximately a third. This is enough to fill 190,000 party balloons or 30 double-decker buses, and is equivalent to planting five trees.

The roof was part-funded by a £65k grant from the Department of Trade and Industry’s Solar Photo Voltaic Major Demonstration Programme. The programme, managed by the Energy Saving Trust, has funded 1,300 projects since 2002 but Richmond is the first fire station.

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