Dorset-based installer Empower Energy has completed a 250kW rooftop system at the headquarters of a London food distribution firm.
The array at south London-based company, Leathams, includes 11 SolarEdge 17kW inverters and 500 SolarEdge OP600 power optimisers. The flexibility offered by the SolarEdge technology, including the ability to place panels in multiple orientations in a single string, simplified the complex, split-roof system’s design, according to the company.
The fixed-string voltage of the SolarEdge DC optimised inverter systems allowed significantly longer strings, it explained in a statement. By increasing string length to 44 modules per string, instead of 24, there was a substantial reduction in string number and balance of system costs.
Leathams food distribution business requires a large spend on refrigeration and the company was keen to increase its self-consumption of PV-generated power as much as possible.
SolarEdge’s Smart Energy Management and monitoring tools are used to provide full transparency on the system’s performance for effective solar asset management. By giving the system owner the ability to monitor the building’s energy consumption and the array’s production, they can increase their self-consumption and reduce bills, according to SolarEdge.