Hounslow Goes Green With Solar

An area in London is reducing its carbon footprint by installing the largest ever solar PV array by a local authority. The PV array is also the first of its kind to adopt a battery storage solution. The London Borough of Hounslow teamed up with LG Electronics and other key partners to engineer the £2 million investment.

The London Borough of Hounslow has started to covert the site of Western International Market (WIM), west London’s largest wholesale market for fresh produce and flowers, into a carbon-zero zone. Together with the WIM, and working alongside key partners (including LG Electronics, Imtech, Sunstruck Energy, SolarEdge, Tesvolt, and Revolution Energy Services), the council has installed a 1.73MW photovoltaic array consisting of 6069 x 285W LG Solar panels, SolarEdge Inverter and DC power optimisers (for performance monitoring) and four 60kW Tesvolt lithium ion batteries.

WIM currently consumes 3.5MWh of electricity per year to provide climate controlled facilities to approximately 80 wholesalers and buyers from across London, equivalent to powering 1,750 homes a year. The new system now generates half of all the site’s required electricity. In addition, the system will contribute 2 per cent of the council’s carbon reduction target of 780 tonnes. The estimated cost savings are £148k a year, on top of the generation tariff and export tariff expected, the council will have a total of £255k in its back pocket in the first year of operation.

Charles Pipe, ‎Energy Manager, London Borough of Hounslow, said: “We are proud to be the borough with the greenest credentials in the country, leading the way in Sustainable Energy for other local authories, businesses and individuals.

“From the very beginning, this project has been about reducing our carbon footprint and making an investment for the future. But we have achieved so much more than that. Not only can we expect to see immediate savings on our electricity bills, but we are expecting to see a return on this investment in about five years.” 

Bob Mills, UK Senior Solar Sales Manager, LG Solar, said: “This is LG’s largest solar panel installation in Europe and testament to Britain’s continued commitment to renewables. This project will deliver significant cost savings to the borough not to the benefits to the wider community as the team continues on its mission to become carbon-neutral. What’s more, the project has set the wheels in motion for further investment and research into the potential of battery storage, which is set to revolutionise the solar industry.”

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