Commercial

A prestigious solar photovoltaic scheme at the University of Worcester designed to reduce the St John’s Campus’s energy costs. 

Staff and students of Worcester University work hard to raise environmental awareness and strive to contribute towards sustainable development, concentrating on carbon management, fair-trade, biodiversity and sustainable food.

In 2010, Worcester became the first university in the UK to achieve an Eco Campus Platinum award across the whole campus, and in 2011 was ranked third out of 133 institutions in the People and Planet’s Green League. It has also this year, been awarded a ‘First Class Honours’ from the Green League for the third year in a row.

Katy Boom, Director of Environmental Sustainability at the University of Worcester says: “The University has a long-standing commitment to act in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner and has made great progress in reducing its carbon footprint as part of this. The introduction of solar panels will make a significant impact to reducing our reliance on grid electricity. What’s more it’s going to be great for all students and staff to be able to monitor the amount of free electricity we are generating from our website.”

The University of Wolverhampton Science Park’s landmark solar photovoltaic project aimed at reducing the centre’s carbon emissions and promoting low carbon technologies.

Consisting of 261 solar panels, the system covers a roof area the equivalent of two tennis courts, and will provide electricity for the Science Park complex. The electricity generated by the solar array will be broadcast on a public display unit in the reception area of the Science Park.

Andrew Gilson, Director at the University’s Science Park says: “The science park was designed with sustainability in mind from the outset and so it makes perfect sense for us to now incorporate solar panels on the roof. We expect these solar panels to provide around 10 – 15% of the energy requirements of the Science Park.

The seed of sustainability has been planted for a forward thinking Brecon-based Garden Centre, where leading renewable energy company Caplor Energy completed an innovative 48kWp solar energy system as part of the centre’s ambitious redevelopment programme.

Mark Cleary, Company Director at the Old Railway Line Nursery says: “The redevelopment of the Nursery has been designed with sustainability in mind from the outset and so it makes perfect sense for us to now incorporate solar panels on the roof. We expect these solar panels to provide the majority of our electricity needs over the course of each year.”

Haygrove is a leading horticultural business based at Ledbury. The company were keen to reduce their electricity bill and promote sustainability within the business. A large part of Haygrove’s energy bill was keeping the summer fruits they grow cool in the summer months with large refrigeration units. With solar PV panels generating more in the summer it made perfect business, as well as environmental, sense to install a commercial PV system. The 35,88kWp system is split across two roofs with 78 panels on each.

Haygrove Chairman, Angus Davison says: “We’re delighted with our new solar PV system. This sort of environmental investment has to be part of all of our futures and we see doing more in future. The fact that it also pays makes it a very easy decision, for anyone. The installation by Caplor Energy has been very professional.”

We installed a 10kWp ground-mounted PV system for a local Herefordshire Garden Nursery. The nursery wanted to generate as much electricity it could from the system to cover it’s annual needs. Our innovative new ground-mounted system meant we were able to install the panels in a restricted space behind the plant beds without the need for any concrete to fix the framework. The customer didn’t want us to use a concrete-fixing method for access and aesthetic reasons, and so we designed a new system that fitted the bill.

Solar PV systems on rented properties can offer a great investment for private landlords as well as offering tenants reduced electricity bills. We recently installed a small 2.82 kWp system on the offices of a private landlord in Merthyr Tydfil.  We are currently looking at installing more domestic systems on the roofs of properties the landlord owns – we hope it’s the first of many.

Managing Director Will Edwards says: “As our offices are used largely during daylight hours it makes perfect sense to generate electricity with solar panels which can be used to reduce our running costs. The income we will get from even a fairly small system should allow us to repay the capital we have invested in well under 10 years”