Manufacturer goes green with £160,000 solar investment

Fabweld Steel Products (FSP) has added 465 solar photovoltaic panels to the roof at its Madeley headquarters in a bid to reduce the amount of electricity it draws and pays for from its energy supplier.

It is estimated that the firm, which manufactures drainage and access covers, will power its factory with 90 per cent of the electricity it generates with the remaining 10 per cent being sold back to the national grid.

FSP has joined the growing list of forward thinking companies that see the benefits of installing Solar PV. As well as saving more than 50 tonnes of carbon per year, the equivalent of planting more than 2,000 trees, the company has also hedged a good percentage of its electrical consumption against the ever-rising costs of electricity.

The installation was carried out by Wolverhampton-based Ace Solar Energy, which installed five systems consisting consisted of four 30kwp and one 10kwp, giving a total capacity of 130,000kwp.

FSP managing director Richard Hilton said: “As a busy manufacturer, we operate a large volume of machinery and electricity accounts for a large portion of our fixed running costs.

“We wanted to make a long term investment into generating our own electricity and also take advantage of the opportunity to register for the Government’s Feed-In-Tariff which was due to close to new applicants.

“Once we had decided to proceed with the project, we had to work quickly with Ace Solar Energy to meet the deadline with the installation completed just two days before the closing date!”

Richard added: “The solar PV system will make a huge difference to our monthly outgoings and also give us an income from the power that we send back to the grid. We are delighted with the levels that we are set to achieve.”

Martin Brown, from Ace Solar Energy, added: "We were approached by Richard to design a PV system that would optimise the energy usage and returns and, by installing multiple systems, more than 50 per cent of the yearly daytime energy consumption will now come from sun.

“What impressed me was that everyone at FSP was totally on board with the concept of solar and were genuinely interested in reducing their carbon footprint.

“Solar panels still provide an excellent return on investment and are a reliable and green source of energy, which help companies reduce their carbon footprint and insures against rapidly rising energy costs.’’