Wolds Village

Faced with high electricity bills and an ever increasing demand, the owners of a popular and award-winning tourist attraction in East Yorkshire have decided that they must do something to reduce these demands and opt to install solar power on their site.

Chris and Sally Brealey run the popular Wolds Village attraction in Bainton, near Driffield, which consists of a restaurant, tearooms, an art gallery, bed and breakfast accommodation and a craft shop.

Fortunately they also have a large field which is now home to an impressive installation of 340 ground-mounted solar panels which totals an 85kWp system.

The effect on their energy costs in the weeks that followed was astonishing: Wolds Village saw a 60% drop in its electric bill. A huge saving for a venue that relies on powering fridges, freezers and air conditioning unit's all-year-round.

They are on course for their installation to pay for itself ahead of schedule, it will then generate revenue for the business as any unused electricity is fed back into the National Grid.

Sally Brealey says: "In our case, we used a large area in a field that wasn't doing very much and it made perfect sense to cut down on electricity bills by converting to solar power."

She added: "We would definitely recommend other tourist attractions or large electricity users to install solar panels if they have the land space or alternatively a large enough roof area."

Discover Energy’s Martin Bleasby said: "The ground mounted installation at Wolds Village is an excellent example of how a business can have a big effect on their fuel bills - there are other clients who have also seen a big drop in their fuel bills and earn money too thanks to the Government incentives."

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