Jaguar Land Rover has switched on the largest rooftop PV solar power plant in the United Kingdom. The 5.8 MW, 21,000-panel system is supplying their £500 million Engine Manufacturing Centre in the West Midlands with 30% of its electricity requirements, reducing emissions by an estimated 2,400 tonnes per year.
The company plans to expand the PV power plant to 6.3 MW this year, further reducing emissions, and as well as the impact of fluctuating electricity prices on the company.
That’s not all, they did what any wise company would do, and reduced the factory’s HVAC energy usage via insulation, insulated cladding, ventilation, and maximizing heat gain from sunlight, which earned it a Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM) ‘Excellent’ rating.
BREEAM is a long-established, and widely used sustainability certification system for buildings. BREEAM ratings range from ‘Pass’ to ‘Outstanding’. ‘Excellent’ is the second-best rating.
According to businessGreen:
‘Energy monitoring facilities in the plant continually analyse the amount of energy being used and identify opportunities to reduce consumption of both electricity and natural gas, while JLR plans to create an ecological corridor across the bottom of its site for wildlife and install boxes, habitat piles, dead wood stumps and insect houses for small mammals, invertebrates, amphibians, bats and birds.’
Trevor Leeks, the Engine Manufacturing Centre’s operations director, said, “Our world-class facility showcases the latest sustainable technologies and innovations. The completion of the UK’s largest rooftop solar panel installation here at the Engine Manufacturing Centre is just one example of this.”
Rooftop solar systems such as these help to conserve a significant amount of valuable land, while generating electricity cleanly, quietly, and with no electricity cost increases. This is a step in the right direction for Jaguar Land Rover.
Source: businessGreen.
