KP Hill Service Station is a petrol forecourt incorporating a garage, MOT Centre, Tyre Bay and Car wash.
The Brief - To utilise the canopy roof and adjacent roofs to install Solar PV and significantly reduce the current annual cost of electricity.
The Petrol Station operates 7 days a week from 6.00am to 10.00pm Monday to Saturday, and 8.00am to 6.00pm on Sunday.
Current electricity usage 60,000 kw pa.
Current unit price 30p kw.
Forecast annual spend £18,251.00
Recommended Solar Power System
32.4KWp with Solar Edge Rapid Shutdown, Firefighter Gateway and Optimisation.
Solar Edge Rapid Shutdown was recommended as an additional safeguard to reduce the risk of fire on petrol forecourts.
Some insurance companies specify Rapid Shutdown Technology as a pre-requisite for insuring Solar PV.
An angled mounting system was used to prevent water build up and leakage which can occur if panels are mounted flat onto a flat roof.
Installation
To avoid disruption to a busy petrol forecourt scaffolding was installed at 5.00am and installation was completed before the forecourt opened.
Installation commenced the next day on August 2nd
Installation was completed by August 7th. 2024
Installation commissioned on August 9th.2024
Expectation
The system is expected to generate 28,640kw of electricity pa.
Forecast annual savings £7,449.00 - 41%
Payback 3 years 10 months.
Results
The system has generated 599kw during the 4 day period August 10th to August 14th 2024
Without solar, during the period August 10th to August 14th 2024 the client would have purchased 750kw of electricity from the grid .
With solar, the client has actually purchased 272kw of electricity from the grid.
This is a 64% reduction in electricity purchased during this period.
121kw has been exported back to the grid.
Additional savings will be achieved by eliminating capacity charges and surcharges which contribute to excess charges incurred on the clients bill.
There is additional roof space for a further 23.4 KW p array which would contribute towards increased consumption when the forecourt installs EV charging stations.
Differential rates between night time and daytime rates will be kept under constant review.
Battery force charging at off peak night rates would further reduce the cost of electricity purchased from the grid.
Britek Solar will continue to monitor the performance of the system and liaise with the client to identify future potential savings.
