Hart District Council has taken a big step towards its climate change commitments and installed solar panels on its office building in Fleet. Works were delivered through Portsmouth City Council’s Central Southern England Multi Contractor Framework Agreement for the Design, Supply & Installation of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Panel Systems & Associated Equipment. Portsmouth City Council procured and managed the project, ensuring the best value for money for Hart District Council.

The Civic Offices in Harlington Way is used by the Council and other tenants such as the Police, Hart Voluntary Action, Citizen’s Advice Bureau and ACAS for their office staff. Hart District Council has owned the building since 1987 and has made other green improvements over the past few years, including upgrading 80% of lighting to LEDs, reusing hardware such as air conditioning units from the old Hart Leisure Centre and improving access to bicycle storage. Hart District Council has committed to being a carbon neutral authority by 2035 and carbon neutral district by 2040.

The installation consists of a roof mounted system consisting of 121 solar PV panels, which should generate as much as 57,000kWh of electricity a year – the equivalent of powering 20 average homes each year. This will save 11.5 tonnes of CO2e per annum, the equivalent of over 11 hot air balloons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere each year. The pay back on investment could be in as little as seven to ten years, and any excess electricity will be sold back to the grid for a modest income for the Council.

Councillor David Neighbour, Leader of Hart District Council, said: “This is an important investment for the Council, and a sensible one given the steep increases in energy prices that are affecting us all. Our solar panels will not only help shield us from future energy price increases but make a huge difference to our carbon footprint as a council.”

Hart District Council has committed to becoming a carbon neutral district by 2040 and will work with partners and local communities to achieve this goal, drawing on local, national and global best practice.

We were appointed to design, supply, install, test and commission two roof mounted solar PV systems at the Mid And West Wales Fire And Rescue Services’ Headquarters in Carmarthen and the Earlswood Training Centre in Neath. The sites house the fire service headquarters, training centre, and accommodation block, lecture rooms and offices. 

Our scope of works included the design, CDM compliance, DNO agreement and  connection, site mobilisation and set up, installation, testing and commissioning, handover/user training and ongoing operations and management. 

We undertook detailed site surveys including confirming structural soundness of the roof, site orientation, electrical infrastructure, scaffolding requirements and any Health and Safety requirements. We designed each of the sites to the client’s specification and completed DNO applications on behalf of the client to Western Power Distribution. At design stage, we ensured efficient tailoring and design of systems to maximise the potential generation capacity for identified spaces. This ensured that the systems are capable of delivering the greatest return on investment.

At the Service Headquarters we installed a 11kWp PV system consisting of approximately 40 panels. At the Earlswood Training Centre, we installed a 91.8kWp system consisting of approximately 320 panels. Given the critical nature of the sites, we carefully planned the work, ensuring flexibility in our approach to meet the client’s preferences for works phasing. 

We reviewed and benchmarked existing energy use, developed a business case for the solution and following installation, took responsibility for testing and commissioning, and quantified the energy savings resulting from the improvement/upgrade including how this was calculated. The systems save 6,609kg CO2 per annum, resulting in a considerable improvement on energy performance management across both sites. Works for this project were completed within four weeks of commencement, including handover.

We supplied and installed two ground mount Solar PV systems for Irish Water in conjunction with Tipperary County Council, with the works comprising:

• Nenagh Wastewater Treatment Plant in Tipperary: a 35kW PV System consisting of 118 PV Modules
• Newcastle West Wastewater Treatment Plant in Limerick: a 30kW PV System consisting of 112 PV Modules.

Our team attended pre contract meetings with the client to discuss design and delivery, providing the client with design calculations and drawings prior to commencement for their approval, in addition to offering support during the planning application process. 

We designed the project in a way so as to avoid risks and combat them at source, eliminating and reducing identified hazards through design, ensuring the installation was capable of being constructed in a way that was safe, and complied with relevant statutory requirements in all respects.

The scope of works included the DNO agreement and connection, site mobilisation and set up, installation, testing and commissioning, handover/user training and ongoing operations and management. We also liaised with ESB for approvals and connections. 

The works were conducted at live sites, during normal working hours. All works were undertaken within the boundary of the site, thus minimising disruptions to residents and businesses of the surrounding area.

We provided yield estimates as part of this project; for the Nenagh site the project will save 15 tonnes of carbon every year and generates 32,000 kWh per year of electricity. For the Newcastle West site, the system generates 26,500 kWh (kilowatt hours) electricity per year which equates to an 11.5 tonnes reduction in carbon emissions annually. In addition, each kWh generated generates savings of approximately €0.15 on electricity usage. 

Works were completed within 9 weeks from mobilisation until completion. 

Empower Community was set up as a Community Enterprise to alleviate fuel poverty by providing free solar energy to tenants in social housing as well as generating profits which are used to fund community energy projects. We provide Operation & Maintenance and reactive Solar PV maintenance services to over 4000 domestic roof-mounted PV systems (2kWp-4kWp) across Peterborough, Northampton, Stockport, Boston, Doncaster, Scunthorpe, Lincoln and Corby. 

The community trust also aims to deliver energy benefits in the same geographical areas as the solar projects, to benefit those that do not directly benefit from the free solar panels.

We provide a robust and reliable operations and maintenance service covering the whole of the United Kingdom and Ireland, which includes response maintenance, monitoring, and re-roofing support.

Key services delivered on this contract include Operation and Maintenance services for roof-mounted solar PV systems, health checks for systems that cease to generate or are underperforming, responsive maintenance including immediate emergency intervention for security and safety reasons, remedial repairs and reinstalling components/systems, installation of bird protection, and data gathering/reporting. When undertaking remedial work, we manage the process for obtaining replacement components through warranties, where these are available.

We have a dedicated operation and maintenance team that provide our O&M service. We play a key role in ensuring the project achieves the maximum benefits of the Solar PV scheme, which in turn facilitates further reinvestment.

We were awarded the contract by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland for the Provision of Public eCar Charge Points at The Northern Ireland Environment Agency’s Country Parks. The Northern Ireland Environment Agency is responsible for the operation and management of seven Country Parks and approximately 65 Nature Reserves across Northern Ireland.

We successfully tendered for the replacement of the existing public electric car/vehicle charging points with new 7.2kW Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) public electric vehicle charging points at four existing sites – Crawfordsburn Country Park, Ness Country Park, Peatlands Park and Roe Valley Country Park. 

We removed the faulty charging points, and designed, supplied and installed replacement Rolec 7.2kw charging points under a lease agreement. Our in-house team completed all electrical, data cabling, earthing works and associated ground works as well as testing, commissioning and handover. 

Upon completion we completed the OZEV Workplace Charging Scheme Grant on the client’s behalf, and we are accredited installers under the OZEV Workplace Charging Scheme Grant scheme. Rolec’s data solutions enable us to provide automated quarterly chargepoint consumption reports as required in order to meet eligibility criteria for the OZEV Workplace Charging Scheme Grant. In addition, it provides access to live monitoring of the charge points including charging sessions, socket activity, driver groups, tariffs and billing configuration.

We also provide ongoing maintenance of new charging points for the next five years, with ongoing support to NIEA, as the leasee of the stations, and the general public as the users of the charging stations. The electric car charging points are operated under the NI Public Sector network and operate under the OCPP (a language that allows compliant EV charging points and back-office management systems to communicate seamlessly with one another).