Plans to fit more than 1,000 solar panels in High Wycombe have been submitted to Buckinghamshire Council.

Wycombe Leisure Centre wants to fix the renewable energy technology to the roof of its building off Handy Cross Roundabout next to the M40.

If approved, the panels are expected to generate an estimated 400,320 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity for export per year – enough to power 114 homes.

Solar panels are ‘proven to be a beneficial source of renewable energy’, supported by the government, according to the leisure centre’s agent Evo Energy.

The solar energy firm’s design statement for the Handy Cross project reads: “This solar installation will therefore contribute towards the government incentive scheme of reducing the carbon footprint of the building and the surrounding area.

“It also helps to contribute towards achieving the EU 20:20:20 goal of delivering 20 per cent of renewable energy by the year 2020, and in addition the targets set in the 2008 Climate Change Act.”

A total of 1,112 panels are proposed to be fixed to the flat roof of the leisure centre and can be removed after 25 years, when they have reached the end of their life.

The panels, which are set into an aluminium frame, will sit less than 20cm high on top of the roof and are designed to be ‘self-cleaning’ when it rains, meaning there is little maintenance involved.