WILTSHIRE Council has approved a planning application for 92 solar panels to be placed on the roof of the Cloisters at Salisbury Cathedral.

The application was made by the Chapter Clerk of the Salisbury Cathedral Chapter Office, and will see the installation of 92 solar photovoltaic panels on the south roof of the Cloister.

This application proposes the installation of solar panels on the southern roof of the Cloisters.

The scheme will comprise of 92 panels, each around 1690mm by 1045mm and 40mm thick, parallel to the roof plane.

According to the architect's report, the panels are likely to generate over 30,000 kWh per year of electricity, which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of eight average UK houses.

This generation will reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of the cathedral over a year by around 7.5 tonnes.

Salisbury Journal:

Conservation Officer Andrew Minting said: "The solar panels are proposed for a rooftop location where they would be invisible other than from above – from the tower and aircraft.

"The colour of the panels would sit comfortably enough with the surrounding lead, and even from the aerial viewpoints, the impact of their visibility on the character and setting of the listen building (and those surrounding, and the conservation area) would be negligible."

The plans received support from Historic England, and Salisbury City Council and Wiltshire Council had no objections to the plans.

A letter from Historic England to Wiltshire Council said: "Historic England encourage opportunities to improve the energy efficiency of Historic

Buildings, where it can be achieved with little if any harm to the heritage significance of the asset at large.

"Historic England supports the application on heritage grounds."

The work will be carried out by Dittrich Hudson Vasetti architects.

For more information on the plans, go to http://bit.ly/2TjIk5m.