50kW solar and battery installation in Highbridge

The job

The customer runs a commercial site in Highbridge and wanted to bring down the cost of running it. Energy bills were the main concern, and with a large amount of roof space sitting unused there was a clear opportunity to generate a good share of the site's power on site rather than buying all of it in. They also had expansion in mind for the commercial kitchen, so anything installed needed to leave room to grow rather than being sized purely for what the site uses today. What was needed was a solar installation big enough to make a real difference to the bills, battery storage to hold power for use outside daylight hours, and an upgrade to the incoming mains supply so the site could take both the new generation and its existing demand.

What we did

We looked at every aspect of the available roof and designed the array to use as much of it as possible, taking in the south facing roof alongside east and west arrays so generation is spread across the day rather than peaking in one short block. In total we installed 157 solar panels, a 50kW grid tied inverter, and a 20kW AC coupled inverter paired with 20kWh of battery storage. The battery lets the site run on its own solar in the evening instead of buying that power back from the grid. Alongside the solar work we organised a mains upgrade with the network operator, sizing the new supply for the solar installation, the site's current consumption and any expansion that might follow.

Challenges

The electricity network in this part of Highbridge is heavily constrained, and that shaped the whole project. The job began in August 2024 and a fee was paid up front for the network operator to carry out the mains upgrade, but those works were held up for a long stretch. To keep things moving we submitted an additional G99 application so the installation could run on the existing supply in the meantime. The mains upgrade was finally completed at the end of August this year, and the system has been running at full capacity since.

The result

The site now has a fully working 50kW solar installation with 20kWh of battery storage, and the customer is making substantial savings on their energy costs. With the mains upgrade in place they also have the capacity to make the expansion they wanted to the commercial kitchen, which the old supply could not have supported. We are gathering the last of the commissioning documentation needed to put an export tariff in place, so that generation the site does not use can earn an income as well as cutting the bills.