With hundreds of rooms and hosting many wedding events per year, Cedar Court Hotel consumes over 140,000 kWh of electricity per year with the main consumption being electric space heating and accommodation demand. This means there is a constant requirement of electricity throughout the day which can be diminished by solar. This large demand means the site is susceptible to tariff variations with a recent tariff rate rise to 68p/kWh which would then inevitably filter down to a rise in accommodation costs – something solar can effectively mitigate. This was maximised to the limit of the district network operator to become as grid independent as possible.

Key facts and Predictions

• The annual electricity bill was over £95,000.
• A 155.1 kW solar PV system was installed using 282 x 550W panels with a 25 year linear performance guarantee.
• Annual generation of 121,550 kWh
• Every typical day between April and September, the solar system generates more than the daily demand
• First year bill savings of £35,000 reducing the electricity bill by 34%
• Lifetime bill savings of over £1.3 million
• 30 tons of CO2 saved each year
• Payback of less than 3 years