A specialist solar installer based in Worthing has completed what is believed to be the UK’s largest power stack battery installation to date.
Sopoco, an independent solar and battery storage installer, delivered the landmark 1.1MW battery storage installation for AJW Group, the global aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) specialist headquartered near Horsham in West Sussex.
The project saw five 229kWh Sungrow Power Stack batteries installed at AJW Group’s operational facility in Slinfold, enabling the business to store significantly more of the renewable energy generated by its existing solar panel system.
Operating 24 hours a day and supporting more than 1,000 airlines across over 100 countries, AJW has substantial energy demands. Following the installation of solar panels onsite, the company identified a major opportunity to improve efficiency by capturing excess renewable energy that was previously being exported back to the grid.
The result is a large-scale battery storage solution designed to reduce reliance on grid electricity, strengthen energy resilience and support AJW’s long-term sustainability goals.
One of the project’s biggest technical challenges was accurately sizing the battery system due to the absence of export data from the site’s existing solar array.
To overcome this, Sopoco collaborated with renewable energy distributor Alternergy, supplying half-hourly consumption data, solar generation figures and tariff information. Using the Orkestra financial modelling platform, the teams were able to determine the optimal battery capacity to balance return on investment, operational performance and capital expenditure. The final specification was a 1.1MW installation comprising five interconnected Sungrow Power Stack systems.
