Major £4m electricity engineering works begin in east Lancashire
Major £4m engineering works have begun to upgrade part of east Lancashire's electricity network.Electricity North West said 6km (about 3.7 miles) of underground cables in Burnley and Nelson would be replaced, along with technology at one substation.Work is under way on Eastern Avenue and will go towards Casterton Avenue and Colne Road, Burnley, in the coming weeks, with the entire project set to last 12 months."The work will provide a safe and reliable supply of electricity whilst also allowing for the adoption of low carbon technologies," said Vincent Cranny, from Electricity North West.
"We always want to provide the best possible service for our customers and the proactive work taking place will ensure thousands of homes and businesses continue to benefit."It is believed 39,000 homes and businesses across Burnley and Nelson are expected to benefit from the new infrastructure.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
8 hours ago
- The Independent
Will a heatwave help your solar panels perform better?
High temperatures can slightly reduce the efficiency of solar panels, despite longer daylight hours increasing overall generation. solar panels perform optimally at 25 degrees Celsius or below, with efficiency decreasing by approximately 0.34-0.5 percentage points for each degree above this temperature. During the UK's record 40.3°C heatwave in July 2022, good solar panels operated at about 5 per cent below their peak efficiency. Despite the heat, the commercial solar sector performed well during the record heatwave, contributing 8.6 per cent of the UK's electricity needs that day. Investing in solar panels can be beneficial for homeowners, with payback periods ranging from 5 to 13 years depending on factors like system size, roof orientation, and electricity usage patterns. solar panels have a long lifespan of up to 30 years, making them a viable long-term investment, especially with future heatwaves expected to be longer and hotter in the UK.
The Independent
9 hours ago
- The Independent
Do solar panels perform better in a heatwave?
The sun is out, mercury is rising and keeping cool is on the minds of most people. If you have solar panels, you might be wondering if the heatwave could hand you a tidy bonus in the way of more free electricity to use yourself – maybe to keep an air conditioner going, or at least a fan – or to sell back to the grid. Longer days do mean more solar power since sunlight will be hitting your panels and generating power for more time. The bad news is that high temperatures can actually lower your generation with solar panels. The good news is that it isn't by much in Britain. How do solar panels perform when it's hot? Modern solar panels will work from minus 40 degrees Celsius to 85 degrees, according to the trade body Solar Energy UK, and they generally work best at 25 degrees or below. For each degree you go up from 25 degrees, you lose about 0.34-0.5 percentage points of power, depending on the quality of the cells. That means at 40.3 degrees, Britain's all-time record, set on 19 July 2022, good panels were operating at about 5 per cent below their best. In direct sunlight, panels can get much hotter than air temperature, of course, but even at 85 degrees, they would only lose about 20 per cent of their power. When temperatures did hit that record, the commercial solar sector performed well. Over the course of that day, solar provided 8.6 per cent of the UK's electric power needs compared to 9 per cent for the previous seven days, suggesting only a small drop off. Heatwaves in the UK are likely to become longer and hotter due to global heating, according to the Met Office. Are solar panels worth it? If you have space to install them, use electricity during the day, own your home, plan on staying there and are up for doing a little homework, then the answer is probably yes. It can take up to 13 years to get a return on your solar panels, but this number can be slashed if you have a south-facing roof, live further south, use your savings to buy them rather than borrowing and paying interest, and use power during the day. Solar panels can also last for 30 years. There are a lot of variables to account for. In the below table, we are using an address in London, assuming a family of three and typical use (no heat pumps, high daytime usage or electric car charging). Other assumptions include no shade on the panels and that someone is in, using power for about half the day and an export price of 15 pence per kilowatt hour. Other than a new inverter, no other maintenance costs are assumed, and no financing costs are assumed. The roof is roughly south-east facing. Much will depend on what price you get for your exported electricity. Tariffs vary widely. If you keep on top of things, however, you should be able to get the 15p per kilowatt hour we use below. Household size System size in kw Array cost Electricity cost per year before solar Savings (energy used and sold from panels) Price after solar (negative means a surplus) Pays for itself after 3-bed 3.6kw £4,990 2,900 kWh @24.5 pence = £710 £540 £170 9 years 4-bed 5.4kw £5,470 2,900 kWh @24.5 pence = £710 £780 -£70 7 years 5-bed+ 9.9kw £7,390 2,900 kWh @24.5 pence = £710 £1,370 -£660 5 years
BBC News
10 hours ago
- BBC News
Major £4m electricity engineering works begin in east Lancashire
Major £4m engineering works have begun to upgrade part of east Lancashire's electricity North West said 6km (about 3.7 miles) of underground cables in Burnley and Nelson would be replaced, along with technology at one is under way on Eastern Avenue and will go towards Casterton Avenue and Colne Road, Burnley, in the coming weeks, with the entire project set to last 12 months."The work will provide a safe and reliable supply of electricity whilst also allowing for the adoption of low carbon technologies," said Vincent Cranny, from Electricity North West. "We always want to provide the best possible service for our customers and the proactive work taking place will ensure thousands of homes and businesses continue to benefit."It is believed 39,000 homes and businesses across Burnley and Nelson are expected to benefit from the new infrastructure. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
