Case Study:
Daylesford Farm Shops

Sustainable organic farming powered by sustainable electricity

Daylesford Organic is an award-winning organic farm shop and restaurant in Gloucestershire like no other. At the heart of their business is a commitment to sustainability and the environment, promising to reduce their carbon emissions year-on-year.

Daylesford Organic installed two Solar PV systems of significant size at their farms in 2013. Their previous contractors ceased trading and were no longer able to carry out solar panel cleaning or system checks for them.

While at the local agricultural show, Tim Field of Daylesford approached Mypower to discuss maintenance of the systems, as dirt build-up was affecting performance. Mypower carried out a full system clean and health check in 2017 and also provided some sound advice regarding the overall performance of the systems.

Key facts and predictions

Figures updated to represent 2020 rates without subsidies

108.63kWp (380 QCells Panels) - installed by Mypower.
95,472 kWh - electricity produced per annum.
£12,365 - projected first year income and savings assuming 86% of electricity used on site.
17.5% - projected first year return on capital invested, before capital allowance benefits.
4.85 p/kwh - equivalent forward purchase price of 2,133,608 units of electricity over 25 years including O&M costs.
24.2 tonnes - CO2 emissions avoided per annum.
5.7 years - system payback before finance, tax and capital allowance benefits.
£483,718 - total projected income and savings over 25 years after indexation.
66% - saving from solar PV electricity compared to grid supplied electricity at 14.3 p/kWh.
In the first 12 months of operation, the system produced 97,258 kWh, 1.9% ahead of Mypower's initial predictions despite one of the wettest winters on record.

In 2018, Daylesford Organic began building a new unit to support their ever expanding food production kitchens. It was located a few hundred meters from their main farm shop. Having been impressed by Mypower's approach and professionalism, Tim Field commenced discussions with them for installing 108 kWp on the new and existing buildings. Mypower dovetailed the solar installation with the erection of the new building to provide some additional savings for Daylesford.

All cold storage and food production units require high electricity consumption to operate, but this building alone is predicted to save Daylesford over £480,000 on electricity bills over the next 25 years. The unit also harnesses the wasted heat energy from the back of the refrigeration units, to be recycled into hot water. As the refrigeration units are powered by solar, the business gets two bites at the green cherry! Over the past decade, Daylesford has made huge strides in their approach to sustainability, spanning responsible farming, high animal welfare standards, targeting zero waste in their farm shops and restaurants and recovering heat energy from their kitchen ovens.

The solar panels installed by Mypower will help Daylesford Organic to avoid over 24 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year - and that's just for one of their solar PV buildings!

"With the pressure mounting for companies to reduce their carbon footprint and work towards a future of sustainability, we are committed to making positive changes in all areas of Daylesford. I've worked with Mypower for 3 years now and they never fail to deliver exceptional work and advice. Mypower's complete end to end project management and comprehensive recommendations means we need to have so little involvement in the projects they do for us. Its like they are part of our team working for a common goal, saving us money and improving our sustainability."

Tim Field, Head of Sustainability - Daylesford