As the premier manufacturer of injection mould plastic parts for medical, water management, electronics and defence markets, the factory at A K Industries has a high energy bill, consuming 1.3MWh of electricity annually.

In 2022, not only was there a lot of volatility in the energy market but material costs also increased dramatically. To stabilise business costs as much as possible, A K Industries decided to investigate what savings were achievable from installing a solar system.

Sam Green, Managing Director at the company, sought the advice of Solarkinetics to specify a solar system with the solar panels fitted to the factory’s roof and determine the resulting pay-back time.

With a pay-back forecast to be just 2 and a half years, it was easy to justify installing a solar system that will be producing power for many decades. In fact, the solar panels came with a 25 year warranty on workmanship, defects and linear performance output

In 2023, a solar installation of 1280 x 375Wp REC Twin Peak 4 were installed along with three inverters: 2 x Solaredge 100kW Synergy Manager and 1 x Solaredge 50kW Synergy Manager.

“A K Industries is a family business as is Solarkinetics and this was a huge attraction,” said Sam.  “In business I find that the fundamental foundation for an effective working relationship is trust and confidence with those you work with – this I found with Gordon and Jaine, owners of Solarkinetics. Their customer focused approach was just what we wanted.”

The District Network Operator (DNO) limited export to 11kWh so at the weekend when the factory is closed not all the power generated is exported. Even so, the solar system is forecast to save £95K in 2023.

“Despite the solar system being large and taking three weeks to install, the team did an excellent job, without causing disruption to the business.

For A K Industries, the main driver was combating rising electricity costs, with the added benefit of supporting our sustainability targets,” added Sam.

Clear Storage is the largest single site for storage using containers with 780 containers on the 9 acre site in Skylon Park, Hereford Enterprise Zone. This family business is committed to sustainability so when an opportunity to gain a Business Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP) grant covering 70% of the cost of installing a solar PV system, they jumped at the chance to further reduce their carbon footprint.

Solarkinetics came recommended to Ali Goodman, Managing Director at Clear Storage. “Gordon Yule visited on-site and explained to us what was important to the business – the energy savings and pay-back time we can expect with the PV system,” said Ali.

The predicted annual output of 9371kWh powers the electrically operated access gates plus 50 containers with any deficit coming from the grid. Each container has a dehumidifier, light and socket with Kingspan insulation and polished wooden floors to keep the inside free of condensation.

30 x 370W REC Twin Peak 4 panels were mounted on the top of containers nearest the gate, the mounts facing south and ballasted. Two Sunny Boy 5000W inverters plus a Sunny Home Manager were located nearby provided intelligent energy management.

“Installation was quick and efficient, it seemed that no sooner the guys were here, they were finished,” continued Ali.

As testament to their sustainability credentials, Clear Storage are certified Carbon Neutral by One Carbon World and have planted more than 3 miles of native hedgerows around the site, free from annual cutting to support wildlife. The Goodman family who own and run Clear Storage are also nearby farmers, passionate about the environment around them.