This week we visit Bradford, where with the help of British Gas Green Streets a local BMX riders club has rejuvenated their club using Solar PV installs. These installs have allowed them to light their track during the winter months without transferring the costs onto their members. And here's how they did it.

The Bradford Bandits is a club run by volunteers that provides bikes, helmets and protective clothing - as well as British Cycling qualified coaches to train riders to national and international competition level - offering them the chance at an Olympic sport.

The club engages a large volume of young people in the area by charging just £2 per visit. Floodlights were installed to offer winter and late night sessions but the club was faced with having to double their charges to cover electricity costs.

Such an increase would have made it too expensive for many of the children and so club faced having to limiting the club's opening hours was fast becoming a reality. That was until they came up with the idea of generating their own renewable energy to power the lights…

The club didn't have a space that was suitable for a wind turbine or solar PV so it had to think creatively. They opted for a “rent-a-roof” solution, approaching a council owned plant nursery to install solar panels on their roof space and share the benefits.

The council gets their power from the panels and the BMX club get the income from the electricity sold under the Feed-in tariffs (FIT) to run their floodlights.

The Bradford Bandits receive payments from the FIT scheme, estimated to be around £2,800 a year. The solar PV panels have only been running for a couple of months, so the club is looking forward to receiving their first payment!

The council will use the electricity from the solar PV panels in their nursery building. This is estimated to save around 57 per cent on their electricity bill in comparison to the previous year, or £821 a year.

Beyond the energy and the income generated, the riders can continue to access the BMX track and training at an affordable cost. Furthermore, the club can now be confident of their future for years to come, given the income under FIT is tax free and payments are designed to continue for 25 years.

The club is now busier than ever, with up to 60 riders a night, four times the number that came last autumn. The club's green moves have inspired others too. As an added bonus, parents and children coming down to the track are now also thinking about their energy use at home.

Join us next week as we visit The Meadows community in Nottingham to see how their work with British Gas Green Streets is paying off.