Solar panels could soon be installed on the roof of the historic St Mary’s Church in Nantwich, it has emerged.
Church leaders, councillors and volunteers have teamed up to explore the idea for the “Cathedral of South Cheshire” as part of its bid to become carbon neutral.
It’s believed the panels would not be seen from the ground, and would provide a valuable source of energy for the iconic grade 1 listed structure.
Initial studies indicate the most effective panels would be situated on the Chancel and Nave sections of the church, as these are protected by parapets around the perimeter of the roof, providing visual screening.
Cllr Anna Burton, of Nantwich Town Council, has been involved in initial discussions on the project and is chair of the “eco church group” set up.
Other members of the group included volunteers from the church and with specific knowledge, including Geoffrey Pearson, Paul Oliver and Nick Hutt.
Carbon officer for Cheshire East Council Emma Williams has also advised the group.
Cllr Burton said: “St Mary’s had a carbon audit completed which was very useful to explore ways that the church could move away from fossil fuels to alternatives.
“One of the reports related to solar panelling. To progress this work we set up a task and finish group to explore the feasibility of solar panelling.
“This is one of the potential first steps on the journey to being carbon neutral.
“I’m glad to be involved innovating solutions to reduce our carbon footprint.
“St Mary’s is one of Nantwich’s great historical buildings and any changes would be carefully considered to respect the aesthetics of such an iconic 13th Century structure.”
The task group has also looked at use of battery storage, electricity usage, financial return and issues such as planning approvals and grants and funding available.
In a report by energy company Carbon Control back in 2023, they said: “The church of England has recognised the leadership role it must play in charting a course to Net Zero in line with UK Government targets and published its Net Zero strategy by 2030 over the summer of 2022.
“St Mary’s Nantwich wishes to explore opportunities to both reduce energy usage across its site and so far as practicable seek to fulfil demand for electricity from on site generated renewable electricity derived from solar Pv panels.
“As part of a longer term strategy the church also seeks to decarbonise its source of heat, currently natural gas.
“We have evaluated a series of different options for the provision of electricity from solar Pv, both with and without battery storage.
“Whilst accurate monthly consumption and intraday consumption is not available, through a process of obtaining electricity meter reads over a 12 month period, has enabled us to both determine the approximate annual consumption and determine a monthly profile of usage.”
The report said at the time installing solar panels along the length of the church’s Chancel and Nave roofs would cost around £100,000, with a “realistic” payback period of around 12 years.
The team is now exploring grants and costs of panel installation as well as Diocese grants available.
(Featured image for display purposes only, showing how St Mary’s could look with solar panels on all its roofs)
Chester Cathedral have solar panels which supply 25% of the Cathedral’s energy. A Nantwich company was part of the project.
Lets be clear, it wont look anything like that first picture
Climate change is real, we need to embrace all opportunities to harness energy, a great idea.
Agree. Monstrous.
Just looks so wrong!