UK connector manufacturer reduces carbon footprint

Simon Hammerton, Managing Director of Weald Electronics, says: “We are always looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint and achieve our environmental goals while finding ways to mitigate the ongoing cost concerns of our customers. We were very pleased to have been able to take advantage of the Community Solar Accelerator grant programme and expect our solar power installation to be a great benefit to our carbon footprint, cost base and product competitiveness. The current, exceptionally high electricity prices and predictions of further increases made us decide that this was a good time to intervene and install solar panels.”

The Weald Electronics site uses energy intensive manufacturing processes and consumes a great deal of peak time electricity. For day-time business operations, the use of solar panels is a particularly attractive option as the electricity can be used as it is being generated, making cost savings on electricity that would otherwise have to be imported from the national power grid.

The new PV installation means that they are now benefiting from reduced electricity bills and making carbon savings. The South, East- and West-facing pitched roof aspects were suitable for solar panel installations, and it maximised the number of panels for these favourable elevations.

Solar impact of the Weald Electronics installation:

• 63kW Size Solar PV array
• Predicted production of electricity: 60,000 kWh per year
• Energy percentage covered by solar: 50% of total electricity cost.
• Predicted cost savings are expected to increase in following years with ongoing increases in the cost of electricity.
• Return on Investment: 3-4 years.
• Expected lifetime of the solar PV system: 25-30 years
• Carbon Savings: 13.9 tonnes CO2e

Hammerton continues: “We are making every effort to improve our green credentials, having already replaced 50% of our company car fleet with hybrid/fully electric vehicles and installed our first on site EV charging point for staff use.”

Established in 1976, Weald Electronics is part of the privately-owned Lodge Group which includes the connector distributor FC Lane Electronics Ltd and its Autosport Division, Lane Motorsport.

Weald products are available exclusively from Lane Electronics, a franchised distributor for many of the industry’s major electrical and optical connector manufacturers. Standard products are normally stocked for next day delivery, while non-stocked items are available with surprisingly short lead-times.