Extra MSA's motorway services at Beaconsfield on the M40 saved £67,763 in the first year after installing rooftop solar, paying back the system in 4 years. The site is one of the most electricity hungry building types in the UK: the lights stay on overnight, the refrigeration runs continuously, and the fryers come up to temperature at four in the morning. Around 8 million people pull off the M40 here every year, producing a load profile closer to a small industrial site than a retail unit.
The solution: 840 panels on a live service station
The installed system is a 382.2 kWp array of 840 AIKO 455W panels, covering approximately 1,640 m² of active cell area on the main building roof. The array faces due south at a 20 degree inclination with no measurable shading, which is close to the ideal case for a UK rooftop.
