Solarcentury completes multi-site solar roof installs for Viridor
Leading UK recycling and renewable energy company Viridor has invested in a programme of PV systems over six of its operational sites across the south-west and south-east of England. The systems have a combined size of 841kWp.Solarcentury was the EPC contractor for the systems, and connected all six systems in just eight weeks.Solarcentury’s almost 20 years of solar industry experience enabled the design of these technically complex systems, including a roof system for the Bridgewater site designed for export limitation due to local grid capacity constraints. The system slows the energy generation capability when the export limit is reached.
Chris Jonas, Director of Business Development for Viridor commented: “At Viridor we are looking to maximise our energy generation capability so we can reduce our reliance on grid energy, and therefore cut our carbon emissions. Over the last year, we have invested in a range of renewable energy generation technologies to help us develop a network of decentralised energy hubs, to power Viridor’s operations and also to supply clean renewable energy to the National Grid.”Solarcentury designed the solar systems specifically to optimise the energy generation capability at each site, therefore reducing Viridor’s reliance on higher carbon grid electricity and driving down their operational spend on power. Each sites design was bespoke due to the range of roof types and age of the electrical infrastructure. In addition to this the designs incorporated export limitation devices, to manage grid constraints and interlinks with onsite power generation from an anaerobic digestion plant.
Suzanna Lashford, Head of UK Commercial Sales at Solarcentury said, “In 2014, we completed a ground mount site at mega-watt scale for Viridor, so we’re pleased that the company has invested further in solar, in this case, using a self-consumption business model which means Viridor maximises its ROI. The range of designs Solarcentury created for these systems demonstrates solar’s fantastic flexibility, and together with the speed of deployment is what makes solar such a straightforward clean energy solution. Self consumption makes financial sense too, even as the UK market moves away from subsidies.”
