The Rose Garden village, located in Herefordshire, is to see the installation of an 80-kilowatt solar energy system in order to help residents reduce their annual energy bills.

Eco2Solar is the company which installed the panels, and the initiative funded by Festival Housing hopes to cut up to £80 per year from the residents’ outgoings and reduce up to 33.5 tonnes of carbon emissions over the same time.

Festival Housing, owners of the Rose Garden, has installed panels on previous projects, but the company says this will be its biggest installation yet.

Some 245 Sunpower E20/333 panels have been installed by Eco2Energy. Generating power which is equivalent to the average energy used by 20 households, the photovoltaics will produce approximately 67,042 units of ‘green’ energy per year.

Maintenance manager at Festival Housing Simon Williams said: “Over the lifetime of the panels, the system will pay for itself accounting for both the feed in tariff income and the savings created from the electricity generation.”

Mr Williams added.that the company already installs solar panels on a number of domestic properties within its current portfolio.

While residents will be the main beneficiaries following the reduction of bills, Festival Housing could also benefit as additional energy produced can be fed back into the National Grid, with the company therefore able to access the government’s feed in tariff.

Paul Hutchens, managing director of Eco2Solar, said: “It’s fantastic to see residents at The Rose Garden benefit from Festival’s investment in solar PV especially at a time when energy prices are getting significantly higher.”

Some 180 domestic homes in Herefordshire have already had the solar technology installed via the partnership between Eco2Solar and Festival Housing.

Constructed in 2008, the Rose Garden village is an innovative site for retirees over the age of 55. Including a fitness gym, spa pool, restaurant, bar and hair salon, the site was developed at an estimated cost of £15 million.