Marina sets example with solar farm

by Sail-World Cruising on 9 Jan 2012 Ocean Village Marina in Southampton in the UK is leading the way into a Green future with its new 220 panel solar farm. MDL Marinas, Europe’s largest marina operator and operator of Ocean Village, is showing how it is forging ahead with its green agenda by installing the solar farm.

The new system is located on top of the six storey Ocean Car Park and is set to generate a whopping 41,500 kWh of free electricity this year – enough to supply the car park’s full electricity, as well as export green power back to the grid.

The installation of the 350m2 scheme is part of MDL’s environmental plan, which has seen the group strive to reduce its carbon emissions and reliance on fossil fuels over the past few years, and already sees MDL purchase electricity from 100% renewable sources.

Anna Wyse, Environmental Policy Manager at MDL Marinas, said: 'Our customers experience first hand the impact of extreme weather conditions and variable sea levels and as a group we recognise we need to continue to do our bit to be greener. We took the decision to install the system to reduce long-term energy costs and further move towards our goal of providing green electricity to MDL customers and their boats.'

The car park proved to be the perfect spot for the new solar system, which was installed by RioMay Renewable Energies. The panels are virtually maintenance free and 95% efficient and will generate electricity every day of the year.

In addition to the new solar system, MDL’s berth holders are already benefiting from hot water heated by the sun as the marinas are also trialling solar thermal water heating systems for the shower blocks.