A VILLAGE hall is reaping the rewards of lower energy costs and a smaller carbon footprint thanks to a recently installed solar energy system.

Areley Kings village hall in Stourport is generating green electricity and earning extra money thanks to the installation of a £15,000 solar energy system.

The system was installed by Eco2Solar, based in Kidderminster, which provides professional cost-effective solar power installations to reduce the fuel bills and carbon footprints of businesses, organisations and individuals.

The panels have been working for just over six weeks and have already produced more than 700kwh of electricity.

The hall will receive more than £300 for the electricity its panels have generated so far after feeding the surplus energy back into the national grid.

In addition, the hall’s carbon emissions have been reduced by 400kg. Paul Hutchens, managing director of Eco2Solar, said: “With recent headlines warning that domestic and commercial fuel bills are set to rocket due to a prolonged rise in the price of wholesale gas and electricity, the panels will provide a significant cost-saving for the hall, making this a wise and invaluable investment.”

Estimates suggest the system will produce more than half of the electricity the hall would use.

On top of this, the hall will receive 43.3p for every kwh of electricity produced by the system over the next 25 years, under the Government’s Feed-in Tariff (FiT) scheme.

Graham Baldwin, a trustee of Areley Kings village hall, said: “It has been a pleasure doing business with everyone at Eco2Solar and we shall thank the company for many years to come.

“Our hall will be so much more eco-friendly and our energy costs reduced, which will keep our hire costs down.”