Energy is a cost of production. Treat it like one.
For an energy-intensive manufacturer, electricity is not overhead, it is a direct input into every unit produced. Solar generated and consumed on site displaces grid power at your full delivered rate, which makes manufacturing one of the strongest payback profiles of any sector.
Your half-hourly meter data tells us exactly when your machines, compressors, refrigeration and ventilation draw power. We size the system against that real profile, so investment goes into kilowatts you will actually use, with battery storage smoothing shift patterns and peak charges where it earns its keep.
There is a second driver growing every year: supply chain pressure. Larger customers increasingly ask for carbon data and reduction plans as a condition of contracts. On-site generation is the most visible, measurable answer a manufacturer can give.
The loads that make the numbers work.
Process & Machinery
Continuous daytime machine loads are the ideal match for solar generation, consuming power the moment it is produced.
Compressed Air
Compressors are among the most expensive loads on any factory floor and run through exactly the hours solar generates.
Refrigeration & Cooling
Cold storage, chillers and process cooling run around the clock, with peak demand in summer when generation peaks too.
Ventilation & Extraction
HVAC and extraction systems draw steadily through the working day across the whole building.
Shift Patterns & Storage
Battery storage carries daytime surplus into evening and night shifts, and can reduce exposure to peak-rate charges.
Fleet & EV Charging
Depot and staff EV charging supplied from your own roof rather than the grid, futureproofing fleet electrification.
Capital purchase is not the only route.
Outright purchase gives the strongest lifetime return, and capital allowances can shelter a substantial share of the cost against corporation tax. Asset finance spreads the cost so savings meet repayments from year one.
For larger sites, power purchase agreement structures, arranged with specialist funders, can deliver solar with no capital outlay: a funder owns the system and you buy the power at below grid rates under a long-term agreement. We advise on whether a PPA genuinely suits your covenant and consumption before anyone signs anything.
We also track regional and national grant funding continuously. Where your local authority or growth hub has a live decarbonisation scheme, we build the application with you, including the energy audit and evidence pack.
Designed around production, not around us.
Data Review
We analyse 12 months of half-hourly data and your tariff, and give you a straight answer on whether solar and storage stack up.
Feasibility & Business Case
Roof and structural appraisal, connection capacity review, right-sized options and a business case your board can decide on.
Funding
Capital, finance, PPA and grant routes set out side by side, with grant applications prepared where a live scheme fits.
Procurement & Approvals
Specification and tender support so installers price like for like, with DNO and planning requirements managed.
Client-Side Oversight
We act for you through installation and commissioning, checking design, workmanship and performance against what was promised.
Where Beau Energy, our own installation division, is the right delivery route, we will say so and disclose that relationship in writing. You remain free to tender the installation elsewhere, and our advice is not conditional on you using Beau Energy.
Start with your data.
Send us 12 months of bills or half-hourly data and your site details. We will model it properly and tell you honestly whether solar stacks up, and at what scale, before any survey or commitment.
Prefer email? Write to martin@beaumanoirltd.com and attach your bills.