Chiltern District Council has installed solar PV on the roof of the King George V Council Offices and the Chesham Leisure Centre in a bid to reduce rising energy costs and their dependence on electricity suppliers. The project was completed by InstaGen in November 2011.
Both systems were installed on high profile public buildings requiring detailed site surveys, system design and careful management. InstaGen worked hard with the Council’s Principle Engineer to ensure each stage in the process covered all the necessary legal and health and safety requirements for such an installation.
The site surveys were carried out on both the buildings by InstaGen’s renewable energy consultant, Waldon Energy, which proposed a bespoke design to improve the efficiency of the system on the Council Offices, with a simpler panel system on the Leisure Centre roof.
The bespoke system was needed at the Council Offices due to one of the south facing roofs having an atrium connected to the offices, so the system was designed with four inverters, split over three different roofs. The Fronius IG Plus 120 and IG Plus 150 models were used and a detailed string design was produced. There were certain areas of the building that had severe shading, so careful attention was given to the design so the performance would not be affected. At the Leisure Centre the system was designed so the panels spread across both roofs.
Oliver Asbury, Principle Engineer at Chiltern District Council, said: “InstaGen submitted the most competitive tender proposal and subsequently went on to deliver its installation and commissioning in a competent and timely manner. Following the completion of these two significant systems the Council is considering a third 9.8kW installation with InstaGen.”
Deputy Leader of the Council, Michael Smith, said: “We have received many positive comments from members of our community following the installation and are really pleased to have our own renewable energy schemes installed. We now look forward to the reduction in our energy bills and are delighted that both projects help us meet our climate change objectives for the District.”
InstaGroup will be exhibiting at Solar Power UK 2012 in October this year.