Leicestershire Farm

Leicestershire Farm

Noble Green Energy provided a fully project-managed, turnkey operation for this farm based in Hinckley, Leicestershire.

Neil Fletcher, from Hinckley in Leicestershire, already had a small solar PV installation so he was well aware of the good rates of return that such systems are capable of producing, especially when taking into account the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) available at the time.

By taking advantage of the AIA, businesses can help offset up to 100% of purchases of plant and machinery (which includes solar PV systems) against their tax bills. Neil decided to expand his installed capacity and turned to Noble Green Energy (then Noble Green Energy) to assist with a new, larger project. He opted to proceed with a 125kW ground-mounted PV system and Noble Green Energy’s own planning team handled the application to the local authority for planning permission. Once this was received, their build team carried out the installation.

Noble Green Energy provide a fully project-managed, turnkey operation and this was exactly what Mr Fletcher received. He felt the process was explained well and was happy with the installation itself and with the ongoing support.

Results

At the start of the process, Noble Green Energy’s sales consultant, Eddie Chadfield, produced a report showing estimated annual generation for a 125kW solar PV system, taking into account the site-specific conditions at Mr Fletcher’s farm. This included expected financial benefits consisting of the income received from the Feed-In Tariff (FIT), any income earned by exporting unused electricity back to the National Grid and the cost saving of not having to purchase electricity from an energy supplier. Taking all these factors into account, Mr Fletcher’s 125kW system was forecast to generate an annual financial benefit of £18,595 which gives a return on investment (ROI) of 12.2%. In fact, Mr Fletcher’s system is performing slightly over target and generating an extra £707, giving an actual ROI of 12.7%.

Mr Fletcher opted to install a Solar Log system too. The monitoring system alerts him in the event of his system performing outside of normal parameters. This can quickly help identify issues which may not otherwise be discovered until the next quarterly meter read. Mr Fletcher’s system did experience an issue with a faulty inverter which affected the output of his system, but his Solar Log highlighted the issue straight away and Noble Green Energy arranged nearly £1,500 compensation through the inverter company. This compensation was not included in the above financial figures.

Added value

Neil is delighted with what he has termed a “healthy return on investment” and says he would certainly use Noble Green Energy again.

*Figures correct at the time of publishing.

The customer felt the process was explained well and was happy with the installation itself and with the ongoing support.