The Museum goes solar-powered!

Fitting the solar panels, June 2022

Lots of work has been going on at the Museum in the last few weeks to install new solar panels on the roof at the back of the building.

Electricity is the only source of power in the museum. The museum collection, whether in store or on exhibition, needs to be kept within specific temperature and relative humidity ranges, which means we must run de-humidifiers and electric heaters for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Even keeping to eco settings and reducing the night settings to the minimum, our bills can be very high. Installing solar panels will reduce these costs throughout the year, as well as reducing our carbon footprint. We estimate that our panels will generate 4,739 kWh per year (enough to boil water for more than 150,000 cups of tea!), decreasing emissions by the equivalent of 2.4 tonnes CO₂.

The 15 solar panels on the back of the Museum roof

The installation was part-funded by Low Carbon Dorset as part of the European Regional Development Fund.