SMF Gordon Wylie, a director at Free Green Energy, has announced the completion of the largest, roof-mounted solar PV array to be installed in Southern England.
The PV system is fully commissioned and has a generating capacity over 3 MW comprising 11,650 solar panels which are supported on the unused flat roof areas of the new bodyshop at BMW Group’s MINI manufacturing plant in Cowley, Oxford.
These solar arrays have been installed without the need for any roof-penetrating attachments on an innovative, lightweight, aerodynamic support framework and cover an area equivalent to approximately five football pitches (over 20,000 square metres). The installation will generate approximately 2,800,000 kWh per year of electricity. The solar PV electricity will enable BMW Group UK to reduce its carbon footprint by approximately 1,500 tonnes of CO2 per year.
The PV system is financed, owned, installed and maintained by Free Green Energy Corporation Limited (FGEC) and the green electricity generated is being supplied to BMW (UK) Manufacturing Limited under a 20 year Power Purchase Agreement.
