Religious leaders urged to place solar panels on temples and church roofs

Religious leaders are being urged to see the light by putting solar panels on temples and church roofs.

If all temples, synagogues, churches and mosques switched they could earn £29million, British Gas said.

They would make money by selling the electricity to the grid with feed-in tariffs, while saving emissions equivalent to 500 US flights.

Britain’s 16,247 churches could make £17.3 million from selling on electricity.

Mosques would make £6.3million, Hindu temples £2.3million, Jewish synagogues £1.4million, Sikh temples £1.4million and Buddhist temples £888,000. Collectively they could also save £5million in energy bills. In Birmingham, the Masjid-e-Hamza Mosque will be the first to benefit from feed-in tariffs and expects to earn £6,400 a year.