Case Study // Project Overview
Ruby Lodge Care Home
Only finished in September 2024, Ruby Lodge Care Home is a brand new state of the art 70 bedroom care home in Thirsk. Ruby Lodge is part of the Country Court Care Home group who have more than 30 care homes across the UK having expanded from 5 homes in 2005.
Ruby Lodge were hoping to achieve several key goals from this install reducing reliance on the national electricity grid, lowering their environmental impact and creating cost savings that can be redirected back into the home to enhance the quality of care for residents.
Our Mechanical and Electrical business took care of all internal and external electrical installations on the whole project, from start to finish, which took over a year to complete due to the size of the new site. By having both our M&E team and Solar install team working on the same job it meant that coordination was streamlined. The Solar installation and following electrical jobs needed to connect the panels to the electrical substation.
Challenges
The best and cheapest time to install Solar PV is at the start of a building's life cycle. By integrating the Solar installation into the initial design and build of the full building, the roof was optimised for maximum sunlight exposure and support structures were built to accommodate the panels. This approach reduced costs by avoiding the need for retrofitting and allowed seamless integration with the building’s electrical system. Additionally, the Solar panels began generating energy as soon as the care home became operational, immediately lowering energy costs.
KEY STATS
PV system size: 49.28kWp
Number of panels: 128
Annual kWh generation: 43.45MWh
