Warwick District Council has installed solar mats on 20 refuse and recycling vehicles, which it says could reduce carbon emissions by around 1.3 tonnes per vehicle, per year.
Funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the mats have been installed as part of the Council’s ‘Low Cost, Low Carbon’ strategic priority, which is focused on reducing energy consumption in the District.
Councillor Will Roberts, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhood, said: “I’m delighted to see the installation of these solar mats on our refuse and recycling vehicles, which are already demonstrating their value.
“The Council is committed to further reducing the carbon emissions from our waste collection fleet.
“These solar mats will provide a useful solution while we see out the lifespan of the existing fleet of diesel vehicles, after which time we will look to replace the diesel vehicles with low or zero-emission alternatives.”
These solar mats will provide a useful solution while we see out the lifespan of the existing fleet of diesel vehicles…
The Council says TRAILAR’s telematics system shows the mats saved 162kg of carbon emissions in one day in late April.
The mats were installed by TRAILAR and work by powering the electrical components in the vehicle, such as the air conditioning and radio, to reduce the demand on the alternator.
The Council says the mats help to reduce the vehicle’s diesel consumption by approximately 515 litres per vehicle, per year.
Adam Buckley Mayes, CTO of TRAILAR, commented: “We’ve installed our ultra-thin solar panels to the roof space of 20 vehicles and the fitted technology will actively reduce the vehicles emissions by reducing fuel consumption, with solar energy powering all onboard electrical equipment.
“The early data captured via the dedicated TRAILAR telematics are impressive and allow Warwick District Council to see and report how much fuel and CO2 each vehicle is saving each day.”
