A NEWPORT housing landlord will invest £1.75 million into its homes by installing 160 solar panels.

Newport Housing Trust will install the PV panels onto some of its bungalows in the city which should be fitted by spring next year.

Up to nine contractors could be used to install the panels with work starting later on in the summer.

Tenants who receive the panels will have free daytime electricity and any unused electricity will be automatically fed into the national grid.

Although the landlord said is not feasible for it to install solar panels on all of its bungalows at the moment, all of its tenants will benefit from the feed-in tariff it will receive over the next few years.

The housing landlord said it will work with tenants over the next few months on developing a plan to provide energy saving advice to those who will not yet be receiving the panels.

It said it is also working with Western Power Distribution to investigate what upgrading work may have to be done.

The landlord said it does not need planning permission but will be applying for building regulations approval soon.

Tenants seeking more information about the work should call Nathan Gould on 01633 261990.