In December 2018, we installed a 9.7 kWp solar array on the Fenlock Court office roof from OxfordSolarPV. Since the office’s energy is provided entirely by electricity (our heating, lighting and small power needs are all powered by electricity rather than gas) reducing our grid import consumption makes a big difference to both our operational carbon emissions and our energy costs.
Following upgrades to the office heating system, the installation of the solar array means that we’re generating approximately 50% of our own yearly electricity demand – and what’s more, from late Spring to early Autumn we’re net exporters of electricity, as the generation from the array far exceeds our demand.
Of course there are times when the sun isn’t shining, and to meet our residual needs we use Ecotricity – they generate 100% of their electricity from their own wind and solar farms.
The whole project from conception through to completion took approximately 2 months, the majority of which was spent making sure the correct planning permissions were in place – the installation itself took place in one day and had very little impact on office working.
Because of the timing of the installation we were able to benefit from a Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) from the Government. Whilst this scheme is no longer running, the cost of solar PV technology has been steadily dropping and still makes it a smart investment for energy cost reductions, particularly for those high demand users and those with significant demands during the day. The replacement to the FiT is the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) which means there is still an incentive to ensure payment is received for all surplus exported electricity.
We also shared the experience and business case for installing solar panels on our roof with our neighbours. As a result of these discussions, two other businesses in our business park have installed solar panels. 3Keel assisted our neighbours by providing them with guidance on securing planning permission, providing templates we had used ourselves, and providing assistance with calculating the business case for installation. As of January 2020, our business park is now able to generate over 40 kWp electricity from the sun.
One of the key areas we have looked to improve upon is our business travel and commuting footprint, currently making up 94% of our total carbon footprint. As the challenges we face span more than just Oxfordshire, we do sometimes need to travel – we use video-conferencing and try to walk, cycle and take public transport as much as possible, however there are still some occasions on which we do need to drive. In order to reduce the impact of these journeys, we have installed two EV Box electric vehicle (EV) chargers at the office.
Because all of our electricity is from our own solar generation or purchased from 100% renewable sources, we know that the charger is as green as it can be. The peak solar generation hours also conveniently coincide with our employees’ typical charging hours, meaning that the excess electricity we generate during the day during late spring and summer can be used directly to charge cars and reduce our travel footprint.
The installation of chargers took place on a single day with very little interruption to normal business – a short period of power outage was required for the final connections. Each 7kW charger provides approximately 30 miles of range per hour of charge, providing a full charge in around 4-5 hours – well within a typical working day!
When we first moved into Fenlock Court, we welcomed the opportunity to improve the impact of an existing UK office – and one of our first acts involved carrying out an energy audit with OxFutures. Its recommendations included upgrading our electric heating system to utilise more modern technology (such as independent WiFi controllable thermostats on each unit) as well as simple things like adding sensors to extraction fans. Changing the heating system alone is resulting in a greater than 20% energy reduction in the winter months for our business.
This reduction corresponds to approximately 1.4MWh each Winter, and with additional savings in Autumn and Spring the financial savings are in the region of £400 per annum – meaning that the changes have a payback of less than 10 years. The financial saving was not the primary driver for us, however it’s nice to know that the changes do make good sense financially as well as environmentally.
We now have much greater control and visibility over the office heating system, and by monitoring usage we can continually make tweaks to improve our efficiency of operation. We are able to easily avoid unnecessary use of the heating system by never heating an empty office.
Cycling is one of the best ways we can lower our transport footprint, and has the added benefit of helping us keep healthy and enjoying the outdoors. For those who live slightly further away, our electric vehicle grant is also available for electric bikes – great for some of the hillier roads near the office.
Bearing this in mind, we’ve recently added in our very own 3Keel bike shelter! A number of us like to cycle in to work, especially during summer, and so it’s important to have a place to keep bikes safe and dry.
One of the key benefits of making these changes is that they all work cohesively and complement each other. The more we can reduce our energy demand through efficiency measures and operational improvements, the more our annual electricity demand can be provided by our own on-site generation, and the less demand we place on the grid. Similarly, as more of the electricity we generate ourselves becomes available for EV charging, the more we can reduce our travel carbon footprint.
We’re continually looking to make good changes, to reduce our emissions and to drive positive action both in our own working and all around us. We also believe in the power of working together – so if there’s anything we can do to help you (or that you can do to help us!) please do get in touch.
As always, we hope we’ll be updating this page soon with more good news – so watch this space…
