£51,000
Saved per year
133
CO2 saved per year
Tonnes
735 kWp
System capacity
About Bri-Stor Systems
Bri-Stor Systems is the UK's leading commercial vehicle conversion company, converting over 7,000 vehicles a year from its 27-acre manufacturing site in Hixon, near Stafford. Founded in 1983, the business designs, manufactures and fits bespoke vehicle storage and racking systems for fleet operators across a wide range of sectors, counting the AA, RAC and JCB among its customers. The company is part of The HEX Group, which brings together Alpha Manufacturing, Hex Graphics and Atlas Coating on a single integrated campus.
Sustainability sits at the heart of what Bri-Stor does, both on-site and in the products it delivers to customers. From zero waste to landfill, to embedding green technologies into vehicle conversions, the business has a clear roadmap to becoming carbon neutral. Investing in a large-scale rooftop solar installation was a natural step on that journey.
The Challenge
Manufacturing is one of the most energy-intensive sectors in the UK economy. Bri-Stor's Hixon facility runs a full on-site production operation spanning vehicle conversion, powder coating, parts manufacturing and vehicle storage for up to 2,000 vehicles at any one time. That scale of activity carries a significant electricity demand, and grid energy costs have climbed sharply in recent years.
The business was already committed to reducing its environmental footprint. Zero waste to landfill was in place. Lightweight, more sustainable vehicle conversion products were in development. But energy consumption remained a major source of Scope 2 carbon emissions, and the electricity bill was an ongoing pressure on operating costs.
The question was how to address both problems at once: cut carbon meaningfully and lock in a lower, more predictable energy cost, without diverting capital away from the core business. A self-funded rooftop solar installation offered the answer. The roof space was there. The energy demand was consistent. The business case was solid.
The Solution
Eden Sustainable designed and delivered a 734.97 kWp rooftop solar PV system across the Hixon manufacturing campus, one of the larger commercial installations we have completed for a UK manufacturer. The system was self-funded, with Bri-Stor investing directly in the asset to maximise long-term returns.
The installation sits across the rooftop of the main production and warehousing facility, making use of roof space that had previously sat idle. Orientated to optimise generation throughout the working day, the system has been designed to align generation peaks with the site's operational energy demand, maximising self-consumption and reducing draw from the grid during the hours that matter most to the business.
The project was managed end-to-end by Eden's in-house delivery team, covering initial design, planning, grid connection and installation. The scale of the system, close to three-quarters of a megawatt of peak generating capacity, required detailed engineering and careful coordination with site operations to ensure installation progressed without disrupting the vehicle conversion programmes running beneath it.
Ongoing monitoring and O&M support keep the system performing to specification year-round, with Bri-Stor having full visibility of generation data and the asset performing as modelled.
The Outcome
The system now generates 571,558 kWh of clean electricity every year, displacing grid energy across the Hixon site and cutting Bri-Stor's Scope 2 carbon emissions by 133,146 kg annually. That is roughly equivalent to taking over 70 average UK cars off the road for a full year.
The system is estimated to save Bri-Stor £51,000 per year in energy costs. Because the project was self-funded, every pound of that saving stays in the business rather than going to a third-party funder. Over a 25-year asset life, the returns are substantial.
For a business whose own customers include fleet operators working hard to reduce the carbon footprint of their operations, this installation does more than cut the electricity bill. It strengthens Bri-Stor's credentials as a genuinely sustainable manufacturer, and demonstrates that the commitment to environmental responsibility they ask of their supply chain is matched at home.
The Bri-Stor project reflects what Eden does in the manufacturing sector. Large rooftops, consistent energy demand and the ambition to reach net zero: solar works particularly well here, and the numbers bear that out.