Yorkshire firm helps farmers to save thousands in energy savings
A Yorkshire-based beef farmer has saved more than £40,000 in energy bills since installing a unique solar system to power his farm.
With the assistance of, Leeds-based off-grid energy solutions firm, Xerogrid, Farmer, David Brown has reduced his energy bills by 80% and will no longer owe monthly costs to the grid.
David Brown, approached Xerogrid after having been quoted £68,000 to have his farm buildings, office and new build house connected to the national electricity grid. Xerogrid has now installed an Outback Power 6KW inverter / charger system, solar power and batteries which is backed up by his unique tractor driven generator.
Based just eight miles from the centre of York, and despite support from the National Farmers Union to understand the demands of the National Grid, David’s original quote was only if he dug the 700-meter trench himself from the sub-station.
Similarly, Xerogrid has fitted farmer John Drake, based in Liskeard, Cornwall, with a hybrid, wind and solar, off-grid energy system which has offered a six year return on investment against diesel fuel.
The system also allows for advanced monitoring and data collection to reveal the farmer’s power usage over the course of a year. Data is currently showing a 70% reduction in generator use, which automatically starts when his system batteries are low, and shuts off again when they are fully charged back up.
John Drake comments:
“I am absolutely thrilled to have found a solution that works efficiently for my farm and to have made such significant energy savings is fantastic. Xerogrid were extremely helpful throughout the whole process of installation and I couldn’t be happier with the results. Not only am I saving a lot of fuel, but there’s less maintenance, and considerably less noise.”
Ian Emberton, founder and managing director of Xero Grid adds:
“We’re passionate about giving power to the people and connecting people off-grid to create their own electricity. To have helped both John and David to make solar energy savings is extremely rewarding for us and we hope to be able to help more farmers achieve these results in the future.”
Xerogrid is a Leeds-based firm specialising in off-grid solutions across the UK and Spain, and even boast a solar solar installation in Ghana.
Xerogrid is supported by the largest free business accelerator programme, Entrepreneurial Spark, in Leeds where founder, Ian Emberton, has won a £3000 award for the fast-growth of his business.
Ian is a finalist for the Great British Entrepreneur awards , supported by NatWest Business banking.