The shipping company responsible for handling 95 percent of the UK’s bananas is now being powered by a 4,500-panel, 1.16 MW rooftop solar system installed at its fruit and vegetable import facility in Portsmouth.
MMD (Shipping Services), chose EvoEnergy to install the array on three of the refrigeration warehouses within its 22-acre site. The 75,347-sq-foot system is generating an average of 3,000 kWh per day.
The installation was not without its challenges. There are more than 18,500 pallets stored at any one time at the import facility, and dozens of forklifts and other vehicles are constantly moving in and out, so using scaffolding was not an option. Instead, EvoEnergy technicians used rope access techniques, scissor lifts and demarcation markers to complete the work. They completed the installation within six weeks without disrupting the company’s 24-hour-a-day operations.
This is not the first challenging solar install for the company. EvoEnergy recently installed a 772-panel system across six rooftops at Portland College in the UK. Each roof has a separate electrical system, and the roofs were covered in a variety of materials including cambrian slate, a notoriously difficult material for PV companies to work with.
