Sun shines on solar panel firm
A SOLAR panel installation firm in Cheshire has landed has secured £500,000 from Royal Bank of Scotland to help fulfil a new £4m contract.
The Green Electrician, which is based in Nantwich, last month won a distribution deal worth more than £4m to supply 1,300 domestic solar photovoltaic panel kits to social housing landlord Stockport Homes.
The contract is part of the Stockport Homes’ Investing in Natural Energy project.
The RBS funding means The Green Electrician has the working capital in place to cover the initial increase in costs incurred at the start of the contract.
The company sources the panels, inverters and frames direct from manufacturers before turning them into PV kits at its Nantwich warehouse. The kits are then supplied to the a contractor to install on roofs at Stockport Homes properties.
The Green Electrician was set up in 2007 has seen its turnover grow from £450,000 to £2.2m in its last financial year, but expects this to increase to £20m during its current year. Employee numbers have increased from four to 60 in the last 12 months.
The demand for solar panel technology continues to grow due to rising energy costs and government incentives designed to encourage use of renewable energy such as the introduction of feed-In tarrifs.
These tarrifs involve power companies paying homeowners for any excess energy generated by their solar panels, which is is then transferred to the National Grid.
It costs around £10,000 to install a typical domestic solar panel system, which has a lifespan of up to 30 years, but savings of up to £1,000 per year can be made from reduced energy bills and through feed-in tarriffs.
Rupert Higgin, managing director of The Green Electrician, said: “At the start of any large contract a business needs sufficient working capital in place to cover its initial rise in overheads.
“The facility we have agreed with RBS provides us with that cover. The solar photovoltaic panel market in the UK has enormous potential and we are confident of further growth once the benefits of this technology become more widely known.”
RBS relationship manager Jane Stewart said: “The Green Electrician is a highly progressive business. In the last few months the company has moved to larger premises and secured a prestigious contract with Stockport Homes. We look forward to watching their future development.”
