Solar PV for farms sees Robert Davis Potatoes chip away at their energy costs

Solar panels can be implemented just about anywhere and one of the industries to feel the huge benefits the most is agriculture, which by nature tends to have more available space to accommodate the solar panels and typically uses a lot of energy to grow, pick, and chill food produce. It therefore, makes sense to use solar PV for farms to combat the ever-increasing energy prices and to reduce the reliance that these farms have on the grid.

In 2018, Robert Davis Potatoes Ltd, a leading supplier of potatoes, approached us to achieve just this. Their operations involve running several large chilling facilities to ensure their food produce has the longest shelf-life as possible during its journey from the farm to the supermarket, and as such, one of their biggest company expenses is their energy bill. The chilled storage facilities at Pipers Farm in Wisbech have a lot of available roof space, which avoided the need to utilise valuable fertile land that is otherwise vital in keeping the farm producing with potatoes.

We carefully designed and modelled a system size of 250kW, which is big enough to make a substantial saving on Robert Davis Potatoes’ energy bills, but also allows a little room for the farm to expand should it wish to in the future. As well as explaining the many advantageous benefits that solar PV for farms would bring for their company, we also explained the various methods available to fund the renewable energy investment, including our Power Purchase Agreement offering, which suited Robert Davis Potatoes’ business model more.

Under our Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), we agreed to completely fund, supply, and install the solar panels to the rooftops of their facilities, and in return Harvest Green Developments sell the generated electricity back to Pipers Farm at an agreed rate, which is guaranteed to be far below the current retail pricing for energy.

Technology

In March 2019, the 250kW solar PV system was commissioned using the latest module-level optimisation technology from SolarEdge inverters, which allows remote monitoring, and Tier 1 solar panels supplied by Hanwha Q Cells. With the available remote monitoring technology, we are able to see and monitor the solar array’s performance on a daily basis, making it much easier and quicker to identify and solve faults if they occur. This helps to reduce the amount of time of low-production of energy during periods of inspections or repairs, and to maximise the investment as much as possible.

Find out how solar PV for farms could help with your business

Harvest Green Developments look forward to supporting your business on your journey towards net zero, cheap energy and self-sufficiency. Check out our guide on how we build renewable energy systems here.