Leeds Hotel

The Brief

A busy hotel in Leeds wanted to cut its electricity costs and carbon footprint. Hotels run day and night. Kitchens, laundry, air handling, lighting and guest rooms use power from early morning to late at night, all year round. That makes them ideal for solar, as long as the system is designed around how the building actually uses energy.

The Challenge

• Installing a large rooftop system on an occupied hotel, with guests and staff on site.
• Planning safe roof access, lifting and work at height around the hotel’s day-to-day running.
• Sizing the system so most of the electricity generated is used on site.
• Getting grid approval from the network operator for a system this size.

Our Solution

Our team surveyed the site in person and designed a rooftop system of approximately 600 panels, matched to the hotel’s daytime use. We bought the equipment, negotiated prices with suppliers, managed the contractors on site and dealt with the client from start to finish.

We also handled the G99 grid application (permission from the network operator to connect), so the system could be switched on without delay.

The Result

The hotel now makes a large share of its own daytime electricity on its roof. It buys less from the grid and will cut its carbon emissions for decades to come. The project was part of a wider three-site programme across hotels and a headquarters building, delivered by our team.