Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales, November 2011

 

Overview

 

Southern Solar were employed to install a retrofit system of 42 solar panels on the cheese-making building at Bwlchwernen Fawr in Lampeter, Wales's longest certified organic farm, where the famous Hafod Organic Cheddar Cheese is made.

 

The Holden family have been farming organically on the land for 35 years with Sam and Rachel taking over from Sam's father, Patrick - a former director of the Soil Association and founder of the Sustainable Food Trust.

 

Their goal was to provide themselves with a renewable source of energy for cheese-making and to get a good return on investment via the Feed-in Tariff.

 

Our Solution

 

It was an extremely careful and well executed installation, which had to accommodate many factors, such as working hours and structural issues involved in working on a fragile roof. 

 

The roof of the current building was deemed unsuitable for an additional load in its current state by our external structural surveyor. In order to make the installation safe and feasible it was necessary to reinforce the steel Z purlins with timber.

 

The installation and commissioning of the system also had to be carefully planned in coordination with the activities of the dairy farm and cheese-making. Due to the high activity and vital working hours the installation team had to accommodate times when the electricity would be turned off.

 

Due to excellent standards of work carried out, Southern Solar have continued working with Hafod Cheese and is now looking into the possibility of Solar Thermal energy to fulfil the large hot water needs of the farm.

 

Our Client Said

 

"Solar PV emerged as the front runner to reduce our electricity usage. Initially, we were worried about the amount of planning involved but Southern Solar made the whole process hassle free and the installation went seamlessly."

 

"Throughout the process we felt that they were looking out for our best interests and would have no hesitation recommending them for the high quality of workmanship they delivered."