Local installer SunGift Solar has completed a multi-roof PV system on a Devon sailing club. The installed arrays will see Exe Sailing Club generate enough energy to provide almost all of its electricity needs and help them take a significant step towards achieving their dream of becoming a self-sustainable business.
While many buildings choose a single PV array, Exe Sailing Club has three different roofs, so SunGift Solar custom-design and installed a system that would fit across them all, making maximum use of their available space. To make this possible, SunGift’s designers incorporated award-winning Solar Edge ‘power optimisers’, into the 40-panel system, which enable each panel to work independently, minimise the effects of shading from nearby buildings, and allow the club to view up-to-the-minute statistics on how well the panels are performing and how much income they are generating.
Rex Frost, the club’s Commodore, said: “This is a huge step forward in terms of securing our future energy needs. We’re not a small club and a large amount of our running costs are spent on electricity and fuel for our boats, so the solar PV array will help us control some of those costs, while providing valuable additional income.”
Whereas many solar PV systems feed their excess electricity back into the national grid, the sailing club will make maximum use of the electricity it generates, as it has a constant usage throughout the day. “We use electricity in the bar, the restaurant, the beer chiller and throughout the club house,” added Rex, “so we’re really making the most out of the green energy we generate, as the energy that the panels produce is free and we get a healthy government payment for producing it.”
Gabriel Wondrausch, Managing Director of SunGift Solar, said: “Solar PV was an excellent solution for Exe Sailing Club, as it significantly reduces their running costs and will pay for itself in a matter of years. With rising energy costs, we’re finding that many more local groups are looking to generate their own electricity and heat from renewable sources, rather than having to buy it from energy companies.”
