Aldi in Cowes will have 272 rooftop solar panels installed following approval by the Isle of Wight Council, with the supermarket now eyeing up similar for its second Isle of Wight store in Lake.
Aldi’s prior approval application for the installation of solar panels at its approximately 1.62-acre Airfield Way store in Cowes has been approved by County Hall.
The retail giant said its plans are part of a ‘wider program’ of solar panel installations which aim to ‘significantly reduce’ Aldi’s ‘carbon footprint’ and ‘contribute towards mitigating climate change’.
The panels will have a maximum output of 144KW.
A council report justifying the decision said:
“The design of the solar panels would be acceptable, with the use of relatively low-lying panels despite sitting on a flat roof which would not appear overly bulky. Additionally, the building is an adequate distance from residential properties.
“Therefore, it is considered that the proposed solar panels would be unlikely to have a detrimental impact on neighbouring properties by way of visual impact or glare and as such, the proposal is unlikely to cause an unacceptable level of glare to residents or to users of the surrounding road network.
“In addition, a glint and glare report has been submitted demonstrating that the proposed solar array would not impact on low flying aircraft such as helicopters in and outbound from the nearby hospital.”
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Now, Aldi has submitted a planning application to install 272 panels on the roof of its store at Spithead Business Centre in Lake.
A decision is expected to be made by 1st April.
What a load of bollo… Glare? What grare? What about the millions of residential houses worldwide that have solar panels ? They don’t cause plane or helicopter crashes through glare… Neither do the solar farms.Just goes to show what dimwits we have in planning…
Why bother ? most of any power is not used / wasted..more bollocks .