A group of five low-rise blocks of refurbished Caldmore Area Housing Association flats on the outskirts of Walsall is helping to create green electricity.

The flats at Newmore Gardens have been fitted with solar photovoltaic panels to generate electricity from the sun to light intelligent lighting in communal areas.

And in an innovative move, Caldmore is working with national supplier of 100 per cent green electricity, green energy uk, to supply the excess electricity created by the panels into the national grid for other homes and businesses to use. 

Richard Barratt, head of asset management for Caldmore Area Housing Association and Mark Bird of Walsall Housing Group successfully procured the green initiative in partnership with green energy uk.

Green energy uk founder and chief executive, Doug Stewart, said: “What’s great about the electricity created is that it is from a totally renewable source, the sun, and therefore it is the best, most green form of electricity available. The surplus energy is not going to waste – the electricity is being used by other people who want clean, green power. It makes a great deal of sense to install photovoltaic panels, and what’s great in the case of Caldmore is that the scale of the installation makes metering the export economic.

Green energy uk delivers a cocktail of 100 per cent green electricity from a number of green sources. Some of these sources are unusual, like the farm that through a method called anaerobic digestion uses pig waste to create electricity, or the Waitrose tomato growers who create electricity while growing tomatoes.