The Findhorn Foundation is poised to install solar panels on a former Victorian hotel to aid efforts to become carbon neutral by 2030.
Planning permission has been secured to place 28 panels on the roof of the dining room of the 19th Century Cluny Hill in Forres.
Work on the project – which will generate energy for the building – is now expected to begin in February.
Cluny Hill is used by the Findhorn Foundation to provide accommodation for staff as well as to welcome participants of workshops and events.
Craig Phizacklea, who has lived in the building for nine years, has been researching alternative energy sources for the former hotel since 2012.
He said: “I’m so grateful for all the help with realising this project and for how it will help this beautiful, historic building on Cluny Hill be even more of an inspiration to many.
“I see this project as another turn of the wheel in helping Cluny become sustainable, as a seed for solar panels on the other south-facing roofs of the building and to support the Foundation’s goal of reaching carbon neutral status by 2030.”
Mr Phizacklea also has aspirations of installing air source heat pumps and small wind turbines to further reduce Cluny Hill’s carbon footprint.
The Findhorn Foundation’s solar panel project has been supported by a £10,000 grant from SSE’s Beatrice Partnership Fund and £5,000 from insurance broker Nature Save.
