ALMOST 200 vicarages throughout Essex are set to go green this month, thanks to the installation of solar panels.
The 185 vicarages have been asked to go solar to save the vicars of the Diocese of Chelmsford a total of about £35,000 a year on energy bills and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 337 tonnes.
The diocese has an extra 52 vicarages having solar panels installed in East London, which it is also responsible for, bringing the total up to 237.
One vicar who has welcomed the installation of the panels, which cost about £4,000 each, is The Rev Canon Dr Graham Hamborg, who helps train clergy and assists the vicar of St Mary's Church in Great Baddow.
Mr Hamborg, who lives in his vicarage with his wife in Colam Lane in Little Baddow, is one of the first to benefit from the renewable energy panels.
The 61-year-old said: "I welcome any attempts to use alternative energy for the environment and for economic reasons.
"I think they should save us about £300 to £400 a year.
"The residents win, the diocese wins and the environment wins."
It is not only his own vicarage in which he is happy to see solar panels, but also he hopes it will be extended further, on to churches if permission could be sought.
He said: "I would like to see all new houses have solar panels – it would put up the cost initially but it will be good if all new houses had them."
He added: "Being green is close to my heart."
The solar panel installation initiative, which was pioneered and set up by the diocese, is also part of the Church of England's Fifth Mark of Mission, to "safeguard the integrity of creation and to sustain and renew the life of the Earth".
The Diocese of Chelmsford hopes that its solar-panel-fitted vicarages' roofs will put about 0.65 megawatts of electricity back into the National Grid each year.
This is– enough to power 10,833 light bulbs which are shining at the same time, or to boil 260 kettles simultaneously.
Homes with four kilowatts' worth of solar panels on them are expected to generate a total of about 3,600 kilowatt hours of electricity a year – with the average house using around 4,800 kilowatt hours of energy a year.
In the future, it is hoped that the project could be expanded to include looking at energy-efficient lighting and panels being fitted to church halls, schools and some churches.