For all the latest news, visit countrylife.co.uk
Churches join race to net-zero
CHESTER CATHEDRAL has installed 206 roof-mounted solar panels, the most ever fitted to a British cathedral, it was announced earlier this month. The panels, which are positioned on the south roof slope of the nave and quire and east slopes of the south transept, are already producing electricity and were paid for via a successful fundraising campaign. Chester Cathedral is Grade I listed and the plans received the blessing of the Cathedrals Fabric Commission, which considers applications for works to cathedrals in England.
The introduction of the panels to the church roof was ‘not without its challenges’. Architects and historic-building consultants Donald Insall Associates were retained to carry out the work, which involved protecting the fabric of the building, and incorporating a ‘major engineering intervention’ into a listed building within a city-centre conservation area. Structural engineers had to check that the roofs were capable of supporting the panels, before the firm developed metal cradles to hold the panels without penetrating or damaging the lead-and-copper roof.
The firm also gave credit to Sir George Gilbert Scott, who remodelled the cathedral in the late 19th century, saying that his pinnacled parapets conceal most of the roof from view, thus addressing the visual disturbance of the panels more than 100 years later.
The panels and their cradles can be removed, meaning the entire project is reversible. Analysis from Donald Insall Associates suggests that the solar-energy system will generate 44,000kWh each year, ‘representing a saving of at least £130,000 in electricity costs for a period of
