Within the next few days, Highfield Garden World in Gloucestershire will be generating almost half of its electricity from the sun. The family owned independent linked with two local organisations to help access a grant and then install 875 solar panels across its roof space, with the business switching to solar input from the beginning of October.
Director Tim Armstrong commented; “We use around 600,000 KVA (kilo volt amperes) a year. With energy prices so high, we decided to fast track our planned solar panel project and minimise our dependence on the national grid as quickly as we could. Looking at the average sunshine hours in a year, our roof space is projected to generate around half of our total electricity requirement. That’s a significant saving for us, and it’s also the equivalent of planting 3,123 trees, so good news for the environment too.
As a business and a team we are dedicated to adopting and encouraging climate-friendly ways of living our lives both on a business level and personal basis. It’s something that is increasingly important for our customers too, and we’re pleased that our use of green energy might encourage others to make similarly sustainable choices when they can.”
Tim continued; “Highfield is part of Choice Marketing Group, as is St Peter’s Garden Centre in Worcester. The St Peter’s team talked us through their own installation, and based on their recommendation, we are using the same solar panel supplier for our own work. Overall, we have been impressed by how much help there is for businesses like ours wanting to consider a greener future. A local sustainability charity helped us secure a government grant, whilst the solar panel company is taking care of the rest including financial projections and project managing the installation itself. We would definitely encourage others to investigate it for themselves.”
Other standout green initiatives at Highfield include its vast 216,000 litre tank which collects rainwater, and its revolutionary retractable planteria roof which maximises daylight and sunshine to reduce reliance on electricity for plant care and to enhance the customer experience.
