Wave Leisure Trust Ltd and Lewes District Council have been working together to generate greener and cheaper electricity for two of their local leisure centres.

 Solar panel electricity systems, also known as solar photovoltaics (PV), capture the sun's energy using photovoltaic cells. These cells don't need direct sunlight to work – they can still generate some electricity on a cloudy day. The cells convert the sunlight into electricity, which can be used to run appliances and lighting.

 The Downs Leisure Centre in Seaford and Lewes Leisure Centre have benefited from an investment of £170,000 by Lewes District Council to install solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. Installation of the panels took place in February and March 2012, with the Downs receiving 112, 235w panels and Lewes receiving 195, 240w panels. The income generated from the Feed In Tariffs has already generated over £16,000.

 Councillor James Page, Leader of Lewes District Council said: "Solar panels are cost effective and environmentally friendly. Using sustainable energy sources is a positive way forward and we are already seeing income generated from the feed-in-tariffs on the panels installed at Wave Leisure."

 In the 6 months since their installation the Downs Leisure Centre's panels have created 23,000kw of energy, with Lewes producing 49,000kw.  In total this has contributed to a reduction of 66 tonnes in CO2 – the equivalent of taking 11 cars off the road for a year.

 Peter Crowley, Managing Director of Wave Leisure Trust said: "After gaining our ISO14001 Environmental Management System accreditation, it is great to be able to continue this contribution to our environmental and social objectives. These panels allow us to significantly reduce our carbon footprint, but also allow us to produce our own electricity for consumption at those sites."