SOLAR panel canopies are to be placed above leisure centre car parks in the city.
They will be built at Ken Martin Leisure Centre, in Bulwell, Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre, in Bilborough, and Nottingham Tennis Centre, off University Boulevard.
It is hoped the first one will be in place in November. It is likely to be at Ken Martin, though this is still to be confirmed.
Nottingham City Council revealed the plans to the Post as it announced that two proposed giant solar canopies elsewhere in the city may take longer to build than anticipated.
David Williams, development manager for energy at the council, said: "We have got a two to three-year programme to install the solar panel canopies at sites in the city.
"We hope to have a contractor in place to do the designs in the next couple of weeks and have the first canopy on site in November.
"We are not sure which one that will be yet."
The canopies will be used to power the leisure centres they are based at.
Earlier this year, the Post revealed plans for two gigantic solar canopies at two park-and-ride sites - Queen's Drive and Colwick.
These would be bigger than football pitches and generate enough electricity to power nearly 500 homes a year and help power the city's electric bus fleet.
The building of these canopies is taking longer than expected. The council has decided to press ahead with the smaller versions in the meantime.
Together, these smaller ones will generate a similar amount of electricity as the larger ones combined.
In all, the canopies will cost the council £2 million. They should generate £200,000 worth of energy a year, meaning the money would be recouped in a decade.
A council spokesman said: "Our ambitious plans to generate enough energy from solar canopies above car parks to power almost 500 homes a year are continuing.
"The other sites in the programme will achieve a similar scale of renewable power generation for the city and hope to be on site at Ken Martin Leisure Centre in the autumn, while continuing to explore Queen's Drive as a site later in the delivery programme.
"Collectively, the proposals will create one of the largest urban solar canopies in the UK, generating significant income and energy savings for the city council."
Dave Rodgers, 44, who often uses Ken Martin Leisure Centre, said the scheme was "impressive".
He added: "It is good to see the council doing things like this.
"I am not sure how the solar panels will look but if it provides energy and saves money for the city, then it can only be a good thing."
