Case Study:
Mypower - Quercus House

Mypower's Quercus House

Practicing what we preach

Mypower are based in Toddington, Gloucestershire, and we recently celebrated our 10th anniversary.
On our own building - Quercus House - we have a 50kW solar PV system which generates around 47,000 kWh of electricity per annum. Installed in early 2014, the projected annual electricity production figures that we cited at the time have proven to be remarkably reliable. Our actual solar electricity production is just over 2% greater than our original projections!

Over that time, the PV system has met over 50% of our electricity needs every year. To achieve this high percentage, we opted to install a larger system than we would normally recommend to clients, which meant that of the 47,000 kWh we generate per annum, approximately 54% is exported and sold to the grid. While exporting electricity to the grid is not as commercially attractive as using the electricity onsite (we're selling at 5p per unit versus displacing grid supplied at 15p per unit), the slight increase in the payback period was offset by the future potential to utilise this energy with a battery installation or to meet the increased demand attributed to charging EVs.

Key facts and predictions

Figures updated to represent September 2019 Post-FiT subsidy rates..

49.92 kW - installed by Mypower.
46,913 kWh - units of energy produced per annum.
£4,827 - projected first year income and savings with 46% of electricity used on site.
14.5% projected first year return on capital invested, before capital allowance benefits.
4.47 p/kwh - equivalent forward purchase price of 1,080,388 units of electricity over 25 years including estimated O&M costs, and excluding potential Annual Investment Allowance tax benefit.
15.5 tonnes - CO2 emissions avoided per annum.
6.9 years - system payback before finance, tax and capital allowance benefits.
£245,447 - total projected income and savings over 25 years less capex of £33,393 = £212,054 margin.

Ready for the EV revolution

In 2020, EV charging is an environmental and cost-saving necessity for our business. At present, we have 4 EVs and 1 Plugin Hybrid vehicle regularly charging at our offices, with more planned. We've just added a further two charging points to our parking area and expect to see a higher percentage of our solar generation used by the business, improving the commercial returns that we have seen.

15.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided per annum!

We save over 15.5 tonnes of CO2 from being released into the environment annually, and with our plans for battery storage and a higher demand for EV charging, we hope that within the next 3 years we will be 95% self-sufficient (as a business you could never be entirely independent from the grid!)

"Solar PV continues to deliver environmental benefits and make savings for our business.
The original predictions for solar generation have proven to be very accurate, and the cost of the energy source (sunlight) has remained rock steady at £0!
By the end of 2020 the system will have paid for itself and will continue to produce free electricity for many years to come."

Ben Harrison, Managing Director - Mypower