Alan Bartlett and Sons’ 1,456-acre carrot and parsnip farm is now benefiting two-fold from the power of the sun after installing a 1.2MW solar PV array to harvest electricity.
As farmers, the company recognised the importance of sustainability and its impact on the environment. As a result, the company decided to invest £1 million in over 4,000 solar modules to significantly reduce the farm’s carbon footprint as well as utility bills.
Commenting on the solar project, Andrew Foster, finance director at Alan Bartlett and Sons said: “The solar panel installation at the Chatteris factory is a significant investment for the company. The installation will achieve material cost savings for the business and at the same time greatly contribute to our carbon footprint reduction ambitions.”
The installation of the system was carried out by Buckinghamshire-based Ardenham Energy. Adrian Weatherby, the company’s sales and marketing director, added: “It’s been a great experience being able to work with Alan Bartlett and Sons on this complex project. Our in house expertise in commercial renewable energy solutions enabled us to provide the business with a bespoke package, from the design and supply, right through to the installation.”
The 1.2MW installation serves as marks another step forward for the commercial rooftop sector which has struggled to gain traction following the introduction of a challenging feed-in tariff level significantly suppressed deployment. In response to low deployment levels the government has introduced a new, separate Renewable Obligation (RO) rate of 1.7ROCs for large-scale roof-mounted solar as of 1 April.