Background
Greencore Homes is the UK’s leading climate-positive housebuilder, with a factory in Bicester, Oxfordshire.
As Greencore puts solar PV on all of its houses, which are designed to be net zero energy in-use, the company wanted to achieve as close to net zero for its office and factory, too.
There were obstacles to overcome:
- The Greencore factory is leased, and it is often legally complex for businesses to install solar onto roofs when this is the case.
- There were local grid restrictions. Greencore was faced with using just half of its roof space with a conventional solar system, because the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) had placed an export limit of 137kW on its existing connection.
Solution
- SNRG is designing, installing, operating and funding a SmartGrid renewable energy system at Greencore’s factory.
- The Greencore Homes SmartGrid will include a 726-panel, 302kWp rooftop solar array and a 100kW/ 200kWh battery storage system. The legal complexities of the factory having a landlord, in this case LondonMetric Property, were overcome by SNRG incorporating all parties into the agreement.
- This unique arrangement effectively created a blueprint for accelerating the expansion of rooftop solar on commercial buildings across the UK.
- Grid constraints were also overcome. The SNRG SmartGrid uses advanced active import and export controls and a hybrid solar inverter, which enables SNRG to cover Greencore’s entire roof with 302kWp of solar panels and add a 100kW/ 200kWh battery energy storage system – all without the need for Greencore to pay the DNO for costly grid reinforcement works.
Results
- The SNRG SmartGrid solution will reduce Greencore’s electricity bills by an estimated 18%.
- It also aims to avoid 39 tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2024 alone.
