Sustainable building suppliers

Larkfleet Group companies put their money where their mouths were when it came to investing in sustainable energy solutions – and are now making and saving hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels installed by Larkfleet on their own roofs at Larkfleet House in Bourne and Spitfire Park in Market Deeping are significantly exceeding projected returns in terms of electricity generated, energy savings and income generation.

The installations, which include a mix of thin-film and standard PV panels, are generating 12 per cent more electricity than predicted. This means that the companies will save more than £140,000 in electricity bills over the next 25 years while also producing an income of more than £1.25 million from the sale of electricity.

PV panels produce electricity from daylight, generating useable power even on cloudy days.

There are 240 crystalline panels fitted on the roof of builders’ merchant Deepings Building & Plumbing Supplies. Installed by sister company Lark Energy in May 2012, the whole scheme was predicted to generate around 43,600 kWh of electricity annually but has actually produced over 49,000 kWh in its first full year of operation.

The roof at adjacent Kestrel Timber Frameis fitted with 108 thin film PV panels that have generated over 10,300 kWh in their first twelve months of operation.

Jonathan Selwyn, managing director of Lark Energy which is also part of the Larkfleet Group based at Spitfire Park, said:

“The solar installations on our own buildings, and the hundreds we have installed for our commercial customers, are providing firm evidence that renewable energy solutions continue to make great commercial and environmental sense for businesses.

“Although the government has reduced feed in tariffs over the last three years, this has been more than offset by reductions in installation costs and rising energy bills.

“As a result, our commercial customers are achieving a significant return on investment from their installations and we have seen significant growth in our commercial business over the first quarter of this year.”

Lark Energy offers a complete service for large-scale roof-top PV installations on industrial and commercial buildings while Deepings Building & Plumbing Supplies provides a similar service for domestic installations.

In addition to solar PV there are a number of other sustainable energy solutions installed at Spitfire Park including a wind turbine, a ground source heat pump and a rainwater harvesting system.

Deepings Building & Plumbing Supplies director Ian Greenfield said: “We like to gain real operating experience of our products ourselves before offering them to customers. We have been delighted with the performance of the PV installations on our roof which are making a real contribution to cutting our energy costs and CO2 emissions.”