Overview
Recent hikes in energy costs have affected many, including Aldridge Education who wished to tackle their increasing energy bills by generating their own electricity at 5 of their secondary schools. The trust consulted Barker for a practical energy solution for their problems.
The Brief
Working with the trust and individual schools, Barker undertook an extensive feasibility study of the sites to establish the roof conditions, planning constraints, electrical infrastructure and structural conditions for the selected roofs. The collaborate approach allowed us to develop detailed PV designs to assess the energy and financial savings the trust would benefit from.
The Challenge
Barker’s M&E teams supported the initial PV designs through design development, and following contractor appointment, the final designs were decided and approved by the trust. The client agreed to a winter installation to ensure that when summer arrived, they were in a position where they could take full advantage of increased sunlight hours. However with this came a risk of poor weather conditions during site works.
The wide geographical spread of the schools meant that they were grouped according to their location. The Northern and Southern site teams worked concurrently to complete the installation within the given timeframes. Careful project and risk planning allowed for the timely delivery of these projects, and the programme contract works were completed within 3 months.
The Outcome
Aldridge Education has direct access to the Solar Edge Monitoring Portal to track electricity production from the panels since the date of installation. The panels begun immediately generating from the date of electrical connection and the client have confirmed they have noticed an impact on their energy bills. The client is extremely happy with the outcome, and consequently is feeling much less pressure dealing with the energy crisis.
