Raven’s Budgens Abridge in Essex is a busy convenience store attached to a petrol station, serving local customers seven days a week. The site relies on power throughout the day for fridges, lighting, tills and other essential equipment, so reliable electricity is a constant part of keeping the business running.

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As energy costs continued to rise, commercial rooftop solar became a practical way to make better use of the building and reduce the amount of electricity bought from the grid. Generating power on site gave Raven’s Budgens a cleaner way to support its daily operations, while also helping to cut running costs and improve control over future energy spend.

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The installation needed careful planning, as both the shop and petrol station had to remain open and safely accessible throughout the work. SGS Energy delivered a commercial rooftop solar PV system around these requirements, keeping disruption to staff and customers to a minimum.

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Since going live, the system has generated 73.7 MWh of renewable electricity, helping Raven’s Budgens power the business in a cleaner and more cost-effective way.

Key wins

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• ‍Strong lifetime generation: The system has produced 73.7 MWh of renewable electricity since installation.‍
• High on-site energy use: The system now supplies around a quarter of the site’s recorded electricity use, helping this energy-hungry convenience store and petrol station rely less on bought-in grid power.‍
• Commercially attractive projection: The original model estimated £11,617.71 in year-one net bill savings, a 36.45% bill offset, and a projected 4.3-year payback period.
• Measurable environmental impact: To date, this solar PV system has saved 14 tonnes of CO₂ saved. That's the equivalent of 862 trees planted.

Technical summary