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A Stockport-based solar panels company has seen a spike in activity following COP26 and the recent gas and electricity price hikes, according to new data from Google.

Project Solar º£½ÇÊÓƵ has examined Google Analytics data from the month in the run up to COP26 and the fortnight the environmental conference was running.

The figures show that visits to the Houldsworth Mill-based company's website were up 67.5% and enquiries through the site rose 42.7% on the same time period in 2020.

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Also recorded was data comparing the COP26 phase with the previous six-week period in 2021.

Website visits were up 23.7% and enquiries through the site increased 31.6% in October and November compared to the September and October phase.

The business said it was "the most dramatic uplift in interest in its 10-year history".

Chief executive Simon Peat said: "People are actively seeking out options to run their domestic appliances without harming the environment.

"Solar panels, used alone or as part of a wider energy solution, are proving an attractive and cost-effective option that is being explored by an increasing number of householders as the Google search data bears out.

"Sales have soared in the past six weeks, and we can definitely peg the growing interest to conversations going on around COP26 and society’s concerns about rising energy prices.

"We have hit our 2021 target and are starting to formulate plans for recruiting staff in our Stockport offices to deal with the demand for solar.

"We are delivering more than 100 installations across the country each week as people switch on to solar and recognise the benefits of using this natural energy source."