The project is a 3.811 MWp solar array at Lyreco 's national distribution centre in Telford.
The install, made up of 13,860 panels, was fitted on to the roof of the firm’s 15-acre logistics site between October and January to cut its carbon footprint and is one of only five rooftop systems in the UK to exceed a yearly output of 3.2 GWh.
It was the largest rooftop PV system to be completed in the UK in 2015 and is the second largest on a single building.
It was also the first in the country to use large central inverters more commonly used for solar farms, bringing ground mount centralised inverter technology to a rooftop installation for the first time.
Owned and operated through a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement by Addison Energy Limited – a company funded by Guinness Asset Management’s EIS service - the system will save Lyreco more than £53,000 a year on its energy bills, as well as cutting annual carbon emissions by 1,700 tonnes - making the whole site carbon neutral in terms of electricity usage.
“We have a large warehouse here in Telford with a large open space on the roof and it recently became obvious that solar panel technology had reached a point where it would be economic for us to engage in that," said Nick Dacey, logistics director for Lyreco.
A team of 30 installers, electricians and project managers worked on-site during the installation process, working through the wettest December ever recorded in the UK. They fitted 13,860 Trina Solar 275W panels in three months onto a rooftop the size of 7.5 football pitches.
Project managers devised new rope access techniques and temporary skylight covers, alongside standard demarcation techniques, so teams could move around and work on the roof in safety. These allowed them to avoid disruption to Lyreco’s day-to-day operations while adhering to the highest health and safety standards.
“The install went smoothly from start to finish thanks to the hard work of our technical team and their counterparts at Lyreco and Guinness," said James Sutton, EvoEnergy's project manager on site.
“It takes a huge amount of careful planning and execution to make a job this large run without any hitches. It’s been a team effort to get here; one that’s required all of our electrical, mechanical and civil engineering expertise, but now the PV is helping a global firm like Lyreco cut its costs and reduce its environmental impact.”
Restoring the roof to the best condition possible before the PV was installed required the team to replace 50,000 of the original roof fixings, as well as repairing and treating over 10,000 linear metres of cut edge corrosion.
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