£136,000
Saved per year
111
CO2 saved per year
Tonnes
620 kWp
System capacity
The Challenge
Optima Products is a UK-based manufacturer of aluminium framed, glazed partition systems, based in Radstock near Bath. From a 5-acre manufacturing facility in Radstock, it designs, manufactures and distributes its range of Optima branded products throughout the UK and worldwide. Cutting, machining and finishing aluminium and steel uses a lot of electricity, day in, day out.
Optima had already been tackling the carbon in its products. From November 2022, the glass and aluminium partitions and doors produced at its Radstock facility switched to Hydro CIRCAL recycled aluminium, reflecting the company’s aim to become a low-emission partitions manufacturer. With the materials addressed, the electricity used to make them was the obvious next step.
The Solution
Eden Sustainable designed and delivered a 620 kWp rooftop solar PV system across the Radstock manufacturing facility, one of the larger systems in Eden’s manufacturing portfolio. The system generates during the working day, when the saws, CNC machines and production lines are running, so most of the power is used on site rather than exported.
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 factory that kept producing throughout.
The Outcome
The system now saves Optima around £136,000 a year on electricity and avoids 111 tonnes of CO₂ annually. That’s a substantial cut in operating costs for a manufacturer competing on major commercial interiors projects.
It also strengthens Optima’s carbon story. Optima monitors the impact of its products through third-party accredited Environmental Product Declarations, and generating its own clean electricity at the factory reduces the carbon behind every partition it makes. For architects and contractors specifying low-carbon interiors, that’s a real point of difference.