£41,000
Saved per year
32
CO2 saved per year
Tonnes
145 kWp
System capacity
The Challenge
County Garage Group is part of the Vospers Motorhouse Group, with over 50 years’ experience in new and used sales and aftersales for Ford, Vauxhall, Renault and Dacia, and is also a Land Rover franchise service centre. It describes itself as the largest retailer group in North Devon, with the area’s biggest choice of new and used vehicles on one site. That site is on Coney Avenue, in the Whiddon Valley Industrial Estate in Barnstaple.
A dealership of that scale runs showrooms, workshops, valeting and offices through the working day, and with electric models now on the forecourt, charging adds to the load. County Garage wanted to bring down one of its biggest running costs and cut the carbon behind it, using the roof space already on site.
The Solution
Eden Sustainable designed and installed a 145 kWp rooftop solar PV system at the Barnstaple site. County Garage funded the project itself as a capital investment, so it owns the system outright and keeps every pound of saving it produces.
Eden managed the full project, from design and the grid connection with National Grid Electricity Distribution to installation and commissioning, with the work planned around a dealership that stayed open throughout. With Eden’s own team based in Exeter, this was a Devon project delivered by a Devon company.
The Outcome
The system now saves County Garage Group around £41,000 a year on electricity and avoids 32 tonnes of CO₂ annually. North Devon’s strong sunshine helps here: the site’s saving per kWp is among the best in Eden’s dealership portfolio.
Because the system is self-funded, none of the saving goes to a funder, and every unit generated on the roof is protected from future rises in grid prices.