Commercial rooftop solar specialists EvoEnergy have completed a 235kW rooftop installation which is expected to save its client as much as £20,000 each year.
Six Evo engineers installed 950 Risen modules and SolarEdge optimisers and inverters over a two-week period on the roof of Wakefield-based computer manufacturer PC Specialist.
The array is estimated to generate around 187,900kWh of electricity per year, amounting to around two-thirds (65%) of the company’s total yearly demand of 285,000kWh.
And Danny Williams, director at PC Specialist, did not rule out expanding the size of the install in the future.
“Though restrictions meant that we couldn’t have a system as big as we wanted, we’re keen to look into this in the future. With the saving from our bills, the feed-in tariff and the exported energy, we’re looking at a good saving on our costs.
“We’re pleased to be doing our bit for the environment too. It’s something we pride ourselves on, and everything we use is either recycled or reused as much as possible,” Williams said.
Meanwhile James Clifford, national account manager at EvoEnergy, discussed how the installer had combined the modules with Solar Edge components in groups instead of strings to increase their efficiency.
“This makes it more efficient in the long term since shaded or soiled modules don’t impact on the performance of the other modules in the string. Monitoring at individual panel level also makes it easier to pinpoint any problems, so the system is easier to repair should anything go wrong,” he said.
While domestic solar installations are continuing to falter under the new feed-in tariff regime the commercial rooftop market has remained comparatively strong with a number of large installations completed in the first five months of 2016.
Statistics released by Ofgem last Friday revealed that 8.7MW of >50kW solar had been installed as of 10 May, around 60% of the total quarterly cap for the largest capacity band with around half of the period left.