One of the advantages of riding a bike is there’s time to look around – and in particular to look upwards at the roofs of buildings, a dangerous activity for those driving cars. Not only can one see the fretted eaves of the old stone buildings in the centre of town, but occasionally there are glimpses of something more modern – solar panels and, occasionally, wind turbines.

These are more common nowadays, and this trend will continue with the guaranteed feed-in tariff of just over 41p for a unit of electricity, for the time being, and the improved energy standards demanded for new houses built after 2015.

To help keep track of these local renewable systems, I have begun to keep a list of sightings, but it’s only a snapshot of what is happening in the Bradford district, and it would be interesting to have a more complete picture of what is being done to reduce the amount of CO2 by producing electricity without using fossil fuels. Perhaps readers could let me know if they have such installations themselves, or know of any in their neighbourhood (keith.thomson5@ btinternet.com), and I will provide a summary in due course.

It’s no surprise that there aren’t many wind turbines as they’re not too effective on domestic properties in towns, though there’s been one on a house in Cottingley for years. Apart from the large one in the Haworth quarry, one in Holme Wood on an allotment, another in Allerton and an experimental one on the new Grange School, I know of few others.

Thermal solar panels, however, heating water rather than producing electricity, are another matter, and some have been in operation for decades, like the one up Beacon Road, best seen from Beacon Place, and the couple on my roof. They are not always obvious, as at first glance they could be mistaken for attic windows.

However, the most impressive development has been the recent increase in the number of photo-voltaic solar panels, the ones that produce electricity during daylight hours, and particularly quickly when the sun is high in a cloudless sky. They can take the shape of normal panels, covering part of a roof, or be the tiles themselves. They are becoming more numerous in Bradford with the new feed-in tariff, adding to the original few. However, it’s disappointing that there aren’t many on the replacement schools, or industrial buildings and warehouses, but it looks as though the new police station in Nelson Street may have a good array on its roof.