Fosseway Garden Centre
Growing the future using solar
Fosseway Garden Centre is a large, family-run business near the beautiful Cotswold Town of Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire. Its roots were established in 1989 when owners, Tim and Gill Godwin, bought a farm incorporating 100 acres of arable land. After realising the need to diversify, they built their first grow tunnel the following year and bought-in some bedding plants which they sold over the course of a weekend. So began Fosseway Farm Nursery, which became a full-time business in 1997 when it was renamed Fosseway Garden Centre.
Since then, the business has enjoyed continuous growth. It now incorporates a restaurant, food hall, clothing department, pet supply section and children’s play barn, and has become a popular destination for home and garden lovers throughout the Cotswolds.
Continuing an ancient history of solar power!
Fosseway Garden Centre is located on the A429 - part of The Fosse Way, which was originally a Roman road linking Exeter to Lincoln via Ilchestwer, Bath, Cirencester and Leicester. The Romans understood the power of the sun as a source of heat and light, so they built their bath houses to face it; hence beginning a 6,000-year story of solar energy!
Key facts and predictions
- 213.78 kWp (509 panels) – installed by Mypower
- 193,111 kWh – electricity produced per annum
- 49 tonnes – CO2 emissions avoided per annum
- £22,945 – first year income and savings, with 78% electricity used on site
- 18.3% - first year return on capital invested, before capital allowance benefits
- 5.5 years – system payback before finance, tax and capital allowance benefits
- £929,290 – total projected income and savings over 25 years
- 4.27p/kWh – equivalent forward purchase price of 4,447,269 units of electricity over 25 years, including operating & maintenance costs
- 69% saving from solar PV electricity compared to grid-supplied electricity at 13.8p/kWh
Keeping Cotswold gardens green
In 2021, Mypower installed a 213.8 kWp solar PV system for Fosseway Garden Centre The solar PV system will help Fosseway Garden Centre to avoid more than 49 tonnes of carbon emissions every year, so their green credentials will be improved substantially. And, with over 42% of Fosseway’s annual electricity requirements being met by their solar installation, they are helping to make their customers’ gardens greener, too!
Reaping the rewards
Projected savings from the solar PV system installed by Mypower are significant. Fosseway Garden Centre is expected to save more than £900k over the next 25 years and achieve system payback in just five and a half years. This equates to a 69% saving from their solar energy, which costs just over 4p per kWh compared to grid-supplied electricity at nearly 14p per kWh.
Confidence in solar PV
"After some initial teething problems, we are very pleased with the system. Mypower have been a valued partner along our journey of trying to reduce our carbon emissions."
Tim Godwin, Owner
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