SolarEdge and Shawton Energy Announce PPA Collaboration for Solar

RENEWABLES COMPANIES SolarEdge Technologies Inc and Shawton Energy have entered into a collaboration arrangement in the UK to provide power purchase agreements for commercial and industrial rooftop renewables projects.

The collaboration will help fund projects that use SolarEdge’s photovoltaic solutions on commercial and industrial (C&I) installations.

The aim of the collaboration arrangement is to enable more UK businesses to access the cost and sustainability benefits of solar energy without having to provide capital investment.

Collaboration for Solar

“Despite a considerable increase in the number of businesses deploying solar over the last few years, current estimates suggest that only a small percentage of commercial roof space in the UK has a solar installation,” said Jamie Shaw, Managing Director, Shawton Energy.

“That means there are a significant number of businesses that are missing out on the advantages that clean, renewable solar energy can bring them,” he adds.

“From our experience of working with C&I customers, we know that freeing up capital to invest in renewable energy projects can be a significant challenge. However, for businesses that are serious about reducing the environmental impact of their operations and that are willing to invest in a long-term partnership, a PPA provides a simple and easy way to switch to low cost, clean energy without any capital expenditure.”

Funded Decarbonisation

Founded in 2016, Shawton Energy is an established construction and renewable energy technology specialist. In 2021, it partnered with sustainable fund manager, Iona Capital, to offer funded decarbonisation for C&I businesses. The joint venture aims to deliver more than £100 million of invested capital in PPA-funded solar projects over the next five years.

Under the terms of a PPA, Shawton Energy designs, constructs, operates and manages the solar installation on behalf of the customer for the lifetime of the project. The customer buys the electricity generated from the solar modules located onsite at a reduced, fixed price, which is often less than half the rate charged for energy from the grid, the company says. This equates to up to a 30% reduction in annual energy costs once daily and seasonal variances in solar energy production are factored in.

With a goal to increase the value of its installations, Shawton Energy approached SolarEdge as a potential partner.

“As both the owner and operator of the projects we fund, it is imperative that the products we put on our customers’ roofs will serve us well for the full lifespan of the project. This means they need to be robust, safe, and provide the visibility that Shawton Energy and our backer requires,” says Jamie Shaw. “SolarEdge’s Power Optimizer technology will ensure our projects produce the maximum amount of energy possible over their lifetime, enabling us to deliver more value to our customers. We were also impressed by SolarEdge’s approach to safety and operation and maintenance – the technology really excels on both those points.”

SolarEdge’s DC-optimised PV solution is designed to deliver the lowest possible cost of ownership over the lifetime of solar installations. Power Optimizers attached to solar modules increase energy production by overcoming issues such as shading and module mismatch that can limit performance in traditional systems, the company says, and also provide real-time data on system performance that enables fault finding and maintenance.

Christelle Barnes, UK Country Manager, SolarEdge Technologies, said: “Shawton Energy shares our mission to deliver high performing solar projects. With its combined construction, renewable energy technology and funding expertise, it is ideally positioned to bring together what can be a fragmented, cross-sector process to provide a complete, fully-funded turnkey solar solution for customers. We are excited to work alongside Shawton Energy and play our role in helping more UK businesses to unlock the cost and environmental benefits of clean, renewable solar energy.”

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