Donegal County Council has boosted the energy efficiency of its main headquarters in Lifford.

The local authority installed 36 Solar Photovoltaic panels to the roof area of the County House.

Speaking about the work, Peadar Espey, Facilities Manager with Donegal County Council, said: "Solar PV converts energy from sunlight into electricity.

"The installation of these solar panels is part of our overall drive to achieve energy performance improvements throughout all our premises. The solar PV system will generate approximately 8,350 kilo Watt hours (kWh) of electricity per annum.

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"Since installed in late September the system has generated 636kWh with the highest production for a single day at 27kWh. When the days are longer and brighter from April to September the installation has the potential to generate over 60 kWh per day."

This initiative is part of the Council's ongoing drive to improve energy performance throughout its operations and is in line with its ISO 50001 accredited Energy Management System which was first achieved in October 2016 and has been retained following a number of extensive independent audits.

"We are fully committed to transitioning to a low carbon, climate resilient society and the work we have being doing over the last number of years to improve our energy efficiency and reduce our carbon emissions forms an important part of the global fight against climate change," Peader Espey added. "The use of this type renewable energy will assist Donegal County Council in helping achieve national targets of reducing carbon emissions by 30% and improving energy efficiency by 50% by 2030 under the national Climate Action Plan 2019."

(CM/MH)