For the Tudge family who rear free-range Berkshire pigs and then sell their succulent meat products across Shropshire and Herefordshire, keeping an eye on the bottom line is essential. In the 1990s they choose to cut out the middle man and sell their products direct via Farmers Markets and local shops. With rising energy costs, G&R Tudge decided in 2024 to install solar PV with the view to offsetting a sizeable proportion of their electricity bill.

“Solarkinetics was recommended to us and that’s how we like to work, through personal contacts,” said Guy Tudge, joint owner of the family-run business. “When Solarkinetics visited, Gordon Yule explained everything in easy to understand terms. We have a 3-phase electricity supply here at the farm so it was a bit more complicated than the usual electrical set-up.”

Solarkinetics took care of gaining the necessary pre installation approvals and post installation commissioning with the Distribution Network Operator (DNO).

On the roof of a building near to where the butchery, cool rooms and prep room/kitchen are located, 35 x 410Wp REC Twin Peak 5 solar panels (14.35kW) were installed, connected to a 12.5kW SolarEdge Home Wave three-phase inverter. This provides on-site power requirements with any excess exported to the grid.

The cool rooms require more electricity to run over the warmer summer months, fortunately this is when the solar panels are producing their maximum yields.

“When the guys came to do the install, they came when they said they would, they were obliging and left the site neat and tidy – they were a real pleasure,” continued Guy. Over the first 5 months the system has been running, starting May 2024, solar has met 40% of electricity usage.

“I’m happy with that. We’ll let this run for a year and ask Solarkinetics to analyse our consumption versus power output from the solar to see if installing batteries that can store excess power for use on cloudy days would make financial sense.”

The Tudge family decided to add solar PV to two of the farmhouses on the farm as well. Now everyone is benefiting from “free” electricity, even the pigs! When the weather is at its worst and the fields are like the Somme, the rare-bred pigs move into sheds where they live in family groups on thick beds of straw. Happy pigs, no wonder their meat tastes so good.

When Hereford Enterprise Zone Ltd in conjunction with Herefordshire Council decided to rebuild the former Munitions Building in Rotherwas, Hereford, as a nod to its unique history, the emphasis was on build sustainability. The resulting building is the Shell Store, an incubator and business networking  centre in Skylon Park, Hereford Enterprise Zone that helps start-ups and growing businesses with office space and support services.

Rotherwas was home to one of the largest explosive filling sites in the UK during the First World War and again was active in the Second World War. The aptly named Shell Store is one of the last surviving buildings of the 370 buildings that existed over the 300-acre site.

Melcon was the electrical contractor in the rebuild and Solarkinetics secured the solar PV installation work after a robust procurement process. The sawtooth roof of the Shell Store brings natural light into the building on the north facing predominantly glass elevations while solar panels were installed on the south facing elevations of the metal clad roof.

246 x 320Wp REC Twin Peak 2 solar modules were fitted to the Euroclad roof using Sunfixing mountings. Power Optimisation boosts power output by enabling a pair of modules to work independently to produce maximum power, despite shading on one panel pair that would otherwise reduce the output of all panels in the same string. The inverter chosen was a SolarEdge 82.8kW three-phase Synergy inverter, installed in the plant room.

The building provides a flexible workspace offering co-working, office space and meeting rooms for freelancers, start-ups and small businesses. Around 30 of the rental offices are occupied and in the centre of the building is the Munitions Café, a great place for networking. 

Since the solar PV system was switched on in 2021, it has generated 124MWh of electricity with 98% of power produced being consumed onsite. Depending on the time of year, overall solar power generation contributes 25-30% of the power requirement in the building.

“Herefordshire Council saw this project as a chance to show leadership in sustainability and the installation of the solar PV system was an important part of the jigsaw to achieving this,” said David Wright, Head of Economy and Regeneration at Herefordshire Council. “Solar generated power is making a valuable contribution to reduce our electricity costs in the building.”