A family baking business is cooking up a generous portion of energy set to reduce electricity bills after having solar panels installed.
Philps Bakery, which has shops throughout West Cornwall, opted to have solar panel systems fitted onto two of its sites to protect them from rising energy bills.
The Philp family has a rich baking history dating back to 1958, when Sam Philp and his cousin Everett began cooking up pasties to supply to local pubs and shops.
Today, the bustling business is run by Sam’s sons Neil and Paul, as well as his grandson – also named Sam.
Grandson Sam said: “We’re a busy bakery and our bills are as high as you’d expect – in this day and age it’s important to do everything you can to get those down as much as possible.”
The company approached renewable energy firm Solarlec’s Exeter office, who sent an energy advisor out to talk the family through their options.
Sam said: “An energy advisor came out to chat to us about our energy consumption and outlay, explaining the benefits of solar power. He did a few sums and predicted that we could be saving a significant amount each year on our energy bills so it seemed like a great investment.”
Philps’ Hayle bakery site was fitted with a 32 panel system – one of four installed for the family as brothers Neil and Paul chose to have domestic systems fitted on their homes after seeing the savings made on bills at the bakery sites thanks to the two commercial systems.
The Hayle premises alone is set to see electricity savings of £24,546 over the next 25 years – as well as feeding cash payments of £32,483 back into the business over the same period through the government’s feed-in tariff subsidy scheme.
Philip Harris, manager of Solarlec’s Exeter office, said: “Energy bills continue to be a headache for businesses and we’re seeing more and more firms explore renewable energy to combat constant rises. The Philp family have made a smart move by investing now and maximising the potential of the Cornish sunshine.”
Solarlec
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