VALE of Evesham growers Walsh Mushrooms is looking on the bright side.

The company has spent £225,000 to install solar panels on the roof of its headquarters in Crab Apple Way, Evesham. The project is expected to secure its future energy for the next 25 years and result in the business slashing its electricity costs in half. The work has been carried out by solar installers Mypower.

Walsh Mushrooms chairman Alan Walsh said: "Making any new investment in technology that is an unknown to you takes a lot of research. Ben Harrison of Mypower worked hard to gain the order, planned and installed the system with a very high degree of professionalism. We are very happy with the results to date. Our solar investment will help us to avoid more than 90 tonnes of carbon emissions each year, which is part of our on-going group wide policy to deliver a sustainable product to customers, something we are very passionate about."

Walsh's large Evesham depot now off-sets 20 per cent of its electricity costs because of the solar panels, which are expected to last at least 25 years. The manufacturers claim that in just over five years the system will have paid for itself. The business will also benefit from the government’s Feed-in Tariff scheme for 20 years and its projected return on investment in the first year will be 18 per cent – three per cent higher than the typical return expected.