This is the office block at the tram depot in Old Trafford, Manchester. We have inspected the building and assessed its potential for installing solar panels on its roof. The construction is relatively new and since it is situated right next to the tram storage and repair centre, is ideally placed to generate electricity that could be used a short distance away on site.

Thanks to Google Maps we can see a birds-eye view of the office block. It shows the half of the roof that points south-east and is ideal for solar panels, as well as making clear how close the building is to the tram lines, which circle the block along a line to the south-west..

Looking through the window of a passing tram, we can see an extensive piece of land that would be an ideal site for a Solar Farm, to create electricity to feed the sub-station just south of the Newhey tram stop on the Rochdale line.  These fields were once an unattractive tip, but they have been covered with soil and planted up in the last few years. They are clearly too insubstantital for housing, but would provide an ideal base for a number of ranks of solar panels.

This is what a Solar Farm looks like. You can see this array if you are travelling east on the M62 from Liverpool to Manchester. Just after you cross over the M6 junction, look left and you will see these panels in a field. There is a farmhouse to the right. The panels are mounted about a metre off the ground at the front. In a large installation, there may be several such layers of panels, built one behind the other. As long as they are angled towards the sun, they will still be effective and not obscure each other.

This is what a small-scale installation looks like, in the community. The solar panels were home-made by volunteers in Irlam and Cadishead, and have been put on the roof of a shed at allotments in Patricroft run by 'Incredible Edible Salford'.

Installing and connecting by 'Maker of Things'. Thanks