High Performance Manufacturing Meets High-Impact Solar

Beverston Engineering is a precision engineering business based in Knowsley, Liverpool, supplying high-quality precision machined parts to safety-critical sectors including aerospace, oil and gas, nuclear, and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Operating in sectors where reliability, compliance, and sustainability are non-negotiable, Beverston Engineering is under constant pressure to maintain high operational standards while managing rising energy costs and reducing its environmental impact.

Beverston Engineering operates a large number of CNC machines that consume significant amounts of electricity. These machines run both day and night, resulting in very high energy usage and exposure to rising electricity costs.

At the same time, customer expectations around sustainability were increasing rapidly. In particular, the aerospace industry is fiercely insistent on working with suppliers that can demonstrate clear environmental responsibility.

For Beverston Engineering, sustainability was no longer a “nice to have” – it was becoming critical to maintaining customer relationships and future competitiveness.

As Managing Director Rod Wah explains, the business needed to be confident that any investment would deliver genuine results:

“Before we started the project and you see people quoting the savings on solar power, you don’t quite believe that it could be that good. But when you look into it you start to get convinced that yes, it’s going to save the company a lot of money.”

Identifying the right technology

Following attendance at a local event in the North West, Beverston Engineering appointed an energy consultancy to assess how they could reduce both costs and carbon emissions.

While wind power was briefly explored, solar PV was identified as the best fit for the business due to its reliability, scalability, and alignment with Beverston’s operational profile. Beverston already had a ground source heat pump installed, and LED lighting throughout the site, but solar was going to offer the real savings.

Funding the project

To support the investment, Beverston Engineering secured partial Government funding from the Low Carbon Eco Innovatory Scheme via Liverpool John Moores University. This required the business to obtain multiple quotes and put each supplier through a rigorous evaluation process, scoring them against several strict criteria.

In addition, Beverston Engineering secured a specialist low-interest sustainability loan from Handelsbanken, who were keen to support a project focused on reducing carbon emissions.

Selecting Geo Green Power

Geo Green Power was one of over 30 installers that submitted a bid for this project through the Liverpool John Moores tender process. Beverston Engineering chose Geo Green Power due to its strong reviews, positive testimonials and proven ability to fulfil the funding requirements set by Liverpool John Moores University.

While not the cheapest quote, Geo Green Power proved to be highly competitive and ultimately scored highest through the evaluation process.

Working with Geo Green Power

Throughout the project, Beverston Engineering were impressed with Geo Green Power’s approach – from the initial quotation through to commissioning.

The quotation was comprehensive, clearly laid out, and included transparent savings projections. Project management, communication, and professionalism remained strong throughout installation and handover.

Reflecting on the experience, Rod Wah said:

“Genuinely good company. Really good company. The whole process from start to finish has been excellent.”

As part of the installation, Beverston Engineering also received access to the SolarEdge monitoring platform, allowing them to view real-time performance data and track savings live.

Despite the system being installed at the start of winter and only operating in winter conditions at the time of interview, the results have already exceeded expectations.

Even on cloudy and dull days, the system is saving Beverston Engineering approximately 20% on electricity usage, reinforcing confidence in the long-term performance of the system.

Beverston were particularly impressed with how quickly the benefits became visible through the SolarEdge monitoring app, providing real-time insight into energy generation and cost savings.

Expected annual performance

• Annual electricity generation: ~182,000kWh
• Annual CO₂ savings: ~35 tonnes
• Equivalent to planting 1,600 trees

Financial savings:

• Around £30,000 per year.
• Approximately £1.5 million over the lifetime of the system
• ROI: 5 years

System Overview

• System size: 202kWp
• PV modules: 445 Canadian Solar 455w
• Inverters: 2 SolarEdge 66.6kw
• Optimisers: 223 SolarEdge S1000