An ambulance service in England has installed solar panels on all its new Rapid Response Vehicles (RRV).
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) began trialing solar panels early last year and from September 2012 installed modules on all new RRVs – 36 to date.
The addition of the modules reduces fuel consumption as the vehicles no longer need to be left idling when attending an incident. Battery replacement costs have also been reduced and availability of vehicles increased as the vehicles do not need to spend time off the road for battery recharging.
SCAS says it will next trial solar panels on Front Line Double Crewed ambulances, “generating more benefits for more of our patients and increased operational cost savings.”
The SCAS has been under pressure to cut operational costs, while preserving a high standard of service.
“The introduction of solar panels to our fleet is just one example of the imaginative ways in which we are achieving these savings whilst delivering an enhanced quality service and best care to our patients as well as benefiting the environment,” according to a statement from the SCAS.
A BBC news item states the solar rigs cost £34,560 in total, but SCAS says the panels will reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 30.28 tonnes and its fuel costs by more than £50,000 over the next five years.
SCAS provides ambulance services in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire in the South East England region.
While the first in the UK to go solar, other ambulance services in various parts of the world have previously installed panels; with a company in Mumbai, India, possibly being the first when it conducted a pilot program in 2008.
With solar technology rapidly reducing in cost over the last few years and design flexibility continually evolving; panels will increasingly be seen on any surface that has sun exposure.
