Earlier this year, Hansgrohe’s UK headquarters in Warwick took a major step forward in their sustainability journey by installing 212 solar panels on their roof. This project is set to save the company over £18,000 annually on electricity bills while making a significant contribution to their environmental goals. Here’s how the project unfolded and the benefits it’s already delivering.
Credit - Cathedral Hill
In a significant move towards sustainability and energy efficiency, Savills Investment Management embarked on an ambitious solar energy project with Spirit Energy on their industrial estate on Cathedral Hill in Guildford. Today, the estate is home to prominent tenants such as Halfords, Screwfix, and Topps Tiles, who benefit from the renewable energy solution provided. Over a two-year period, from 2021 to 2023, Spirit Energy successfully installed a comprehensive renewable energy solution across 13 newly refurbished units. The project combined 500 kWp of solar PV capacity with 351 kWh of battery storage, ensuring significant energy savings and carbon footprint reduction for future tenants.
In early 2024, St Michael’s Hospice embarked on a mission to reduce its carbon footprint and gain greater energy independence. Partnering with Spirit Energy, the hospice aimed to achieve both financial and environmental benefits by installing a bespoke solar photovoltaic (PV) system. This case study outlines the design, implementation, and results of the project.
In April of 2024 we installed a 9.72 kWp in-roof system for Mr S. of Hampshire. As is standard at Spirit we used specialist in-roof Viridian panels, connected to two Solis inverters.
Spirit Energy Install the First Tesla Powerwall 3 in the UK.
In August of 2023 we installed a Tesla Powerwall 2 to complete the 6.23 kWp PV installation we had installed some months previously for Mr Y. of Wokingham.
The first stage of the installation consisted of 15 Trina panels, and will generate approximately 5300 kWh of electricity per year, that's well over 1 ton in CO2 savings annually. Mr Y. also wisely opted for bird mesh protection to prevent birds from nesting on the system, a common problem that's easy to prevent with a specialised bird mesh.
In February of 2024, we installed a Tesla Powerwall 2 for Mr S of Bristol. He was one of our first customers to take advantage of the 0% VAT for battery only installations that was introduced by the government in February 2024.
Mr S had this to say about the installation:-
"Installation was a very stress free day, the boys new exactly what they were doing and came up with a couple of really good ideas to make the install neater and easier to access."
In September 2020, Spirit installed an EV charging station at Porter Garland’s offices in Camberley. The company had recently purchased an electric car, taking advantage of the tax benefits for businesses.
In December 2019 Spirit installed a Rolec SecuriCharge unit for Nuvola in Swallowfield.
In November 2019, Spirit finished installing a complete system for Mr L in Maidenhead - solar PV, Powerwall 2, eddi and two zappi chargers.
In October 2019, Spirit commissioned an eoMini Pro charger at a house in Thatcham.
Mr E went for the eoMini Pro to take advantage of the £500 OLEV grant for smart chargers. The unit is small and discreet, and offers full monitoring via the app (shown in the image above).
In August 2019, Spirit installed its first zappi version 2 at a house in Reading.
In June 2018, Spirit installed and commissioned 6 Dual Socket EV chargepoints at St Giles Hotel in Heathrow, London.
In 2017, a private landlord contracted Spirit to upgrade the lighting in the communal areas of their property in Bishops Court, Slough. This consisted of replacing 46 existing fittings with a range of new LED lights.
July 2017 saw Spirit carry out a 30 fitting LED lighting retrofit for a commercial property in Newbury, Berkshire. NCR Bodyshops wanted existing highbay lights in their warehouse to be replaced with new 220W LED equivalents.
In July 2016, Meika Ltd contracted Spirit Solar Ltd to install LED lights in its office and warehouse complex in Reading, replacing 125 existing light fittings and bulbs.
The new fittings range from 600mm x 600mm panels in the office and meeting rooms to 80W LED Corn lamps and 5ft tubes in the warehouse.
Energy use will be reduced by up to 65%, with a total annual reduction in electricity use of just under 15,000kWh. The annual savings in running costs and replacement bulb costs will be £1,765+VAT; the project has a 3 year payback.
The installation will also improve lighting quality and reduce the need for maintenance of the lights. For example the panels give 35,000 hours service, which is 20 times the expected life of the existing fittings.
