Kingspan Insulation in Castleblayney takes steps towards reducing their C02 emissions by using the roof of the factory to generate clean, renewable electricity.

The project which began in October 2015 took only two months to complete and was developed and installed by Kingspan ESB a joint venture company delivering funded roof top Solar PV systems.

The roof of the factory was transformed as 1,200 solar panels where installed without any disruption to the function of the plant. The 300kw Solar Photovoltaic (PV) System will provide 15 percent of the Insulation plants annual daytime load.

Kevin O’Grady, Operations Director at Kingspan Insulation, says: “We are very pleased to have the largest solar PV system in the Republic of Ireland operating at our facility. The partnership between Kingspan ESB and ourselves has enabled us to utilise our factory roof space to create a sustainable, clean energy which was all made possible by the funded Solar Model.”

This impressive system is expected to save over 35000 tons of CO2 over the life of the project. Kingspan Insulation will use nearly 100 percent of the energy generated by the Solar Panels. The entire project was made possible by the Funded Solar model which allows the business to pay for the energy it consumes, and not the capital cost of the system itself. It was part-funded by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

Kingspan ESB Director Mel Courtney says: “This offering from Kingspan ESB allows businesses to benefit from securing renewable energy without any capital investment, retaining capital for their core business projects while leaving rooftop solar development, monitoring and maintenance to ourselves which is our expertise”