No matter where you are, the number of roofs fitted with solar panels are growing fast, particularly roofs belonging to commercial premises.
Horizone is well established in the telecoms, internet connectivity and IT sectors but renewable energy is a relatively new departure for us. So we were delighted when Gary Jones of TT Precision Engineering in South Woodham Ferrers, Essex asked us to arrange for the installation of solar panels on his factory roof in December 2024.
Established for over 30 years TT Precision Engineering is a family run CNC engineering company working in a variety of metals and plastics with customers spread across the aerospace, automotive and agricultural industries as well as the military.
Horizone has partnered with Project Better Energy, experts in all elements of green technology, who conducted a thorough survey of both TT’s historic electricity usage and their premises. A report and proposal was presented to and accepted by Gary.
Steve Rowley, Horizone’s Sales Manager, asked Gary what motivated him to consider solar power in the first place. It’s long been Gary’s strategy to plough profits back into the business whenever prudent. Given energy prices have significantly fluctuated in recent times, a trend set to continue, Gary was keen to protect his business from future volatility while at the same time reducing monthly costs. Although financial considerations are important to all businesses, Gary also takes environmental factors very seriously, so making TT Precision Engineering greener is a key priority.
Just before Christmas scaffolding was erected around TT’s unit. The installation of the panels took just one day. Gary is impressed by the neatness of the install and described the installation team as “good blokes”!
At the time of writing the solar panels have been in place for less than 6 months with summer only just starting. Despite some gloomy winter weather Gary has seen just under 3500kwh generated in total. TT’s daily electricity consumption has yet to be matched by generated yields, typically the panels are generating c70% of daily consumption. However more sunny days could see generated yields exceed consumption.
So what’s next? Gary expects yields to regularly exceed daily consumption and of course the panels generate electricity during evenings and weekends. Currently Gary sell his surplus energy to the National Grid. But storing and using surpluses makes more financial and environmental sense for TT Precision Engineering and Horizone has furnished Gary with a quote for a high capacity storage battery.
If you would like your business to enjoy the financial and environmental benefits enjoyed by Gary Jones please get in touch!
