Vegetable producer goes for solar energy
British vegetable producer Huntapac Produce is expected to achieve £500 000 savings and revenue from its large solarPV array over the next 25 years. The 50 kW system was installed by Renewable Solutions on the roof of the packing plant in Tarleton, Lancashire, It is one of the largest root-vegetable processing plants in Britain, and its roof provided an excellent opportunity to make use of solar power.
Stephen Shields, Huntapac’s technical director, explains, ‘There were two main reasons for choosing to install solar photo-voltaic panels on the pack-house roof. The first was the opportunity to make considerable cost savings, and the second was to demonstrate our continuing commitment to operating as sustainably and as responsibly as possible.
‘We considered our options and considered a number of micro-generation companies before appointing Renewable Solutions. We chose the company because it took a very hands-on approach; it walked us through the documents and the application process for agreeing the Feed-in Tariff, and then provided active support with our energy supplier.’
The installation comprised ZN Shine 190 W panels connected to an SMA Tripower relay inverter.
The principal challenges of the project related to timing, especially having to connect the power supply within a 2-hour time slot on a Sunday — the only period of downtime that was available to Huntapac.
