Bedford Borough Council - 4.2MW Solar Farm

Our aim was to work with the client to deliver a design solution which would maximise carbon reduction and revenue for the council, within the budget and the footprint of the available land. This saw the farm divided into two sections, with a 3MW installation and a 1.2MW installation for an overall capacity of 4.2MW.

The system is capable of generating 4.2MW of capacity, despite the export license only allowing 3.5MW of export to the grid. By configuring the system in this way, we were able to trade a higher peak performance for a system which generated consistent electricity for a longer period of the day, meaning the daily generation was significantly improved.

At the time of the project, the price of solar panels was increasing rapidly. Vital Energi therefore made it a priority to secure the necessary panels quickly to avoid further increases.

By utilising our robust supply chain, we were able to procure the panels rapidly, ensuring our clients were insulated from further coming price rises.

Solar panels can be vulnerable to high winds, so modules must be securely mounted to the framework, which in turn, must be securely fastened to the floor. On this project we drove vertical piles into the ground and then bolted the framework to it.

As the landscape of the hill is uneven, including slopes and undulation, we used a flexible framework which can ride over small changes whilst producing a stable base. In instances where there was a slope, we stepped the panels to ensure we could fit in the required capacity without losing any yield.

Vital created the electrical substations which housed additional equipment, including the curtailment system which ensures safe interaction with the grid. We also installed approximately 300m of HV cable which was laid through private land before connecting to a national grid substation.

As part of our work we ensured the project was G99 and G100 compliant and obtained a license to export electricity to the grid.

The original design had generic inverters specified. Our solar design experts were able to improve the system design and introduce higher specification invertors which matched the overall system capacity. This was done whilst maintaining the capital cost of the project in a challenging economic environment.

In addition to the solar farm and electrical system, we also delivered the surrounding infrastructure, such as access roads, CCTV and surrounding security fencing, making the project a true turn-key solution for the client.