Bristol-based ethical food business Essential Trading, one of the UK’s largest and most successful worker co-operatives, has marked its 40th year in business by securing a £100,000 investment to install a solar energy system.
It brought in North Somerset experts Solarsense to fit the PV system at its Fishponds warehouse, from which it runs its wholesale operation and cash-and-carry service, delivering across Britain with its own fleet of vehicles. The £12m turnover organisation, which employs 85 staff and is dedicated to vegetarian, organic, sustainable and ethical trading, also has two shops operating under the Harvest brand in Bristol and Bath.
While Essential was keen to introduce renewable energy at the warehouse on the Lodge Causeway Trading Estate to reduce its carbon footprint, it also needed to ensure that it made financial sense. The cooperative secured a loan from Bristol-based ethical bank Triodos and, by using the Government’s Feed-in Tariff, the system will pay for itself during the 10-year loan payback period and from then on will be provide an income.
Steve Penny, who looks after Essential’s finances, said: “We had been considering solar energy for some time. We approached seven local suppliers and Solarsense came up with the best specification for our budget – a 44.64kWp system of 186 solar photovoltaic panels mounted on our warehouse roof.”
Earlier this year Backwell-based Solarsense won the Renewable Energy Association’s Company of the Year Award. Established in 1994, it has installed more than 5,500 solar energy systems in the South West. It estimates its systems save well over 10,000 tonnes of CO2 each year.
Solarsense’s high-profile installations include a 200kWp solar photovoltaic array at Worthy Farm, home of Glastonbury Festival, which was the UK’S largest privately-owned solar PV system when installed.
It is also responsible for an award-winning solar thermal installation at Clifton Lido and solar power systems at the National Composites Centre at Emersons Green, near Bristol, and Bath University.
