Henley's Phyllis Court Club buys £70,000 Solar Panels

Henley’s Phyllis Court Club has bought over 100 solar panels in an effort to cut power costs.

The panels, which the club started installing last month on the roof of its fitness club, will cut the private members club’s electricity bill by 30 per cent.

Phyllis Court Club, which has around 3,500 members, built its fitness facility 5 years ago. The fitness club’s facilities include a swimming pool, gym, solarium, café, and treatment rooms, all of which will be partially powered by the newly installed solar panels.

The club estimates that the panels will cover their own £70,000 price tag within two and a half years. The panels also make Phyllis Court Club a more environmentally friendly business, the club will avoid over 35,000 kg of carbon dioxide emissions per year through their partial use of solar power.

The club’s Chief Executive Chris Hogan said: “We realised that increasing electricity and gas costs would impact businesses and therefore made a business case to invest in very efficient solar panels to save money.

''We have covered the entire roof. On a good day, they will save us 30 per cent of electricity costs to run the centre.

“We will be pulling far less electricity from the National Grid because we will be generating it ourselves. I want to ensure that we future-proof the businesses and investing in an energy-saving initiative is a no-brainer.

“The members are going to benefit hugely from this because the business is not spending money on fuel but instead the enhancement of their enjoyment.”

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The panels, which are part of the club’s wider initiative to become more sustainable, were proposed by the club council and met with no objections from the paying members. On top of the panels the club has also invested in a combined heat and power unit from Germany, which burns gas more efficiently.

Marketing and brand communications co-ordinator Michele Bilson said: ‘’The club will look at investing more panels for its buildings if the roofing was suitable’’.

The fitness club was completed in 2018 at a cost of £4million. Since its completion membership to the Private Member’s Club has increased.

Michele Bilson said: “The fitness club has increased the membership numbers considerably and driven the average age of members down, so we consider it a success.

‘’Unlike many clubs around the country that were taking cost-saving measures, such as turning the heat down in pools, Phyllis Court Club had not changed anything in the centre.

‘’However, We are making improvements all the time to make sure we are energy efficient and have implemented changes within the main clubhouse.”

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