Fine food company Charlie Bigham's is boosting its green credentials by vowing to use almost all of the sustainable energy it will be generating through a new solar panel system at its site in Dulcote.

Charlie Bigham's requires electricity 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week to produce its food for the likes of Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury's.

So, when the food manufacturer got the opportunity to make its operations even more sustainable - by reducing the amount of electricity it imports - it contacted West Country company SunGift Energy to design a bespoke 318.58kWp solar PV system.

"Like most food producers, our operations are very energy intensive," said Charlie Bigham, who started his company in 1996 with the aim of creating pre-prepared meals.

"Our refrigerators are in constant use, keeping our freshly-made food at optimum temperatures. That's why this solar PV system will be invaluable, particularly in the summer months.

"99.5 per cent of the electricity that it generates will be used by our facility, with just 0.5% being exported back to the grid."

Food manufacturers like Charlie Bigham's can make excellent use of large solar PV systems. While an average business makes excellent use of the electricity it generates (typically using around half of the electricity it generates onsite), food manufacturers have continuous energy needs and quite often use every bit of electricity they generate for themselves.

"Since starting the business my goal has always been for Bigham's to become a 100 per cent sustainable company," said Charlie, "so, over the past 20 years, we have continually introduced measures that improve our the way we operate.

"When we switched on our solar PV system I knew we had achieved an important next step in our journey."

In the past 20 years Charlie Bigham's has introduced a number of green initiatives, including a strict programme of energy monitoring and reduction, switching almost all of its packaging from plastic to sustainably-sourced wood, carrying out its own onsite water-treatment, recycling all waste with none going to landfill and all food waste being anaerobically digested; and closely monitoring its carbon dioxide emissions.

The 318.58 kWp solar PV system will produce around 314,000 kWh of electricity per year - enough to power the equivalent of 101 average houses and reduce carbon emissions by 163 tonnes each year.

Thanks to the electricity that it generates, the system will take less than five years to generate enough savings to pay for itself.

"Despite being an energy energy-intensive operation that has to keep food chilled 24-hours-a-day, Charlie Bigham's has had sustainability at the heart of its operations from day one," said SunGift director Gabriel Wondrausch.

"That's why a solar PV system makes sense now more than ever. With constantly-rising electricity costs, a high-quality solar PV system provides energy security, reduced CO2 emissions and ensures that businesses are not at the mercy of energy suppliers.

"Bigham's solar PV was an exceptional project to undertake. As a RIBA-award-winning campus it required an equally-matched solar PV system, so we worked hard alongside the Bigham's team to get a precise understanding of the campus's energy demand.

"We then modelled the most appropriate system for its needs so that it would meet the company's performance and aesthetic requirements."

As part of the installation, SunGift also included all electrical cables and items, an access platform and a perimeter guard rail, installation of all equipment, connections to the inverters, test certification, and full set-up and commissioning.

"Our solar PV system is generating exactly as expected," said Charlie, "and it was safely installed under rigorous coronavirus controls.

"We are very proud of our food production campus at Dulcote Quarry - it's a stylish, high-quality environment with exceptional attention-to-detail - so the PV system had to be deigned to perfectly complement this.

"I'm thrilled with SunGift's work at Dulcote Quarry as they designed a bespoke system to fit our brief, had a wonderful approach and finished the job to a meticulous standard."