Aberdeenshire disabled man pleads with council to have solar panels connected to reduce bills

By Louise Glen

January 20 2023, 6:45 am

Stan Watt, 63 is freezing in his home. Solar panels on his roof that could reduce his bills have never been connected up by the council. Image: Jason Hedges/ DC Thomson

An Aberdeenshire disabled man who is paying £15 a day for electricity is pleading with council officers to connect his solar panels to the grid.

Council housing tenant Stan Watt says the panels were fitted to his home three years ago but they have never been linked up to start producing energy, and as such he has no benefit from them to his weekly fuel bill.

The 63-year-old Gardenstown resident pays all his bills from benefits, and yet, still has to rely on crisis loans to cover his bill.

Electricity bill of £450 a month

He pays more than £450 a month on electricity alone.

While he is living on the bread line, there is a solution right above his head, in the form of council-fitted solar panels.

Mr Watt said: “I am being fobbed off by the council, and I need The Press and Journal to ask why the solar panels have not been linked up.

Stan Watt, 63 is freezing in his home. Solar panels on his roof that could reduce his bills have never been connected up by the council. Images: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

“It is beyond inept. I have a serious spinal cord injury so I don’t get out the house unless there is someone to go with me, and it is cold in the house.”

Mr Watt was assaulted some 18 years ago and suffered a life-long condition. In the past few months, he has gone through painful surgery – with one more operation needed in the coming year.

He suffers from severe nerve pain in his shoulders and arms, which is made worse by the cold.

He said: “I have been in the house for 18 years and there is mould, and very little has been done to maintain the property.

‘I am still frozen’

“The solar panels will help towards electricity costs and keeping the cold at bay, and it is sad they have not been linked up already.”

In spite of his huge fuel bill, he says “I am still frozen” and the cost does not include heating up water for a bath – something he describes as a luxury.

He said: “I am on benefits and I need to make my payments cover my costs, this month I have been surviving on a crisis grant.

“All I am asking for is a date with the solar panels will be linked up. But I was told by the council that there was not much sun in the winter so there was no point in linking them up now.”

An Aberdeenshire Council spokesman said: “Tenancy services have been working closely with the tenant to arrange a visit and agree a plan to allow the installation of solar panels to progress.”