Funded renewable
energy systems

SmartGrid innovator SNRG has unlocked the potential to cover vast acres of the UK’s commercial roofspace with solar panels, through a unique partnership between business, landlord and renewable energy provider.Greencore Homes, the UK’s leading Climate Positive housebuilder, and its factory’s landlord, LondonMetric Property, have teamed up with SNRG in the first such partnership.It will see SNRG design, install, operate and fund a £400,000 SmartGrid renewable energy system at Greencore’s factory in Bicester, Oxfordshire. PROJECT VIDEO https://youtu.be/a3ciF7jUJvQ?si=KHFjYBshkzxbBOrnAs 55% of commercial property (by value) in the UK is rented, it can be legally complex for businesses to install solar onto roofs.SNRG manages the legal and commercial agreements which guarantee a significant income stream for landlords, while at the same time generating crucial energy savings for business tenants.The Greencore deal is a blueprint for accelerating the expansion of rooftop solar on commercial buildings, in partnership with landlords, to help businesses meet net zero targets and reduce energy costs.A recent report by the UK Warehousing Association (UKWA) revealed that warehouses alone cover 18,500 acres of land and have the combined roof space to generate 15GW of new solar power.The SNRG SmartGrid is a place-based power system utilising solar PV panels, battery storage and intelligent...

“We should embed a microgrid in every planning provision in the UK.” New SNRG chairman David Cowans is a man with his pulse on priorities. The climate crisis is one subject where anything but urgent action is too late. The former chief executive of Places for People describes himself as “very, very passionate about sustainability and tackling climate change, but not in an ephemeral, theoretical way - in a ‘what do we do about it?’ way.” David searches for, and always discovers, solutions. Practical solutions that can be effected with urgency.  “That's what really attracted me to the SNRG SmartGrid model,” he reveals. “It was a practical proposition about what one might be able to do, in a realistic way, that impacts on people's everyday lives.” Twenty years ago, David introduced the concept of housing being about ‘place’ - a neighbourhood, a community, a location. A place where the climate crisis is recognised as a serious problem to be overcome, and a home’s energy source as one of the solutions. “It doesn't surprise me at all that we’re now getting to a point where everybody else is catching up with that idea,” David says. “It just seemed obvious to me,...

“It’s an exciting time to be at SNRG. There is plenty to do” Dan Nicholls is a man on a mission, one which began while at university, when he spent a year working for a sea turtle conservation charity in Greece. “What started out as a bit of a life experience has proven to be one of the defining early moments in my career,” he admits. “Since then, I have always wanted my career to be mission-driven, and climate change mitigation is that mission.” Dan is playing his part in this vital process by overseeing the development of SmartGrids - and he is in no doubt about the importance of the role they will play. “Against a backdrop of increasing energy prices and state support for energy bills, I think the SmartGrid concept of low cost, low carbon community-based energy has potential to transform the energy landscape in the UK and beyond,” he predicts. It’s a huge undertaking, and a mission Dan is fully committed to. But of course, a healthy work-life balance is essential to be focused on such projects. Dan grew up in Cornwall as one of six brothers. He now has a daughter, as well as a...