The Project
This commercial solar PV and battery storage installation was carried out at a residential care home in Stoke-on-Trent — a facility providing full-time accommodation and round-the-clock care for elderly residents.
Care homes run heavy electrical loads 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — heating, lighting, commercial kitchens, laundry equipment, and medical devices. This continuous base load makes them ideal candidates for high-capacity solar with battery storage.
The brief was straightforward: convert a large south-facing roof into a commercial power plant, drastically cut operational utility bills, and maximize self-consumption through commercial battery storage.
What We Installed
The installation covered a large south-facing roof elevation fitted with a full commercial array of black-frame monocrystalline solar panels — selected for high efficiency and sleek visual integration.
The array feeds into a commercial SunSynk hybrid inverter, which intelligently orchestrates power flow between the solar panels, battery bank, building electrical distribution, and the national grid.
Battery storage was provided by a Duracell Energy Wall system comprising three high-capacity battery units wall-mounted in a dedicated plant room. This provides substantial energy storage capacity, allowing daytime solar generation to power the facility well into the evening and overnight.
The Installation Process
Due to the sensitive nature of the building and its elderly residents, the installation was meticulously planned to prevent disruption to daily routines. Scaffolding gave safe, quiet access to the roof area without interfering with building entrances or resident mobility.
DC cabling was routed cleanly down to the secure plant room, where the SunSynk hybrid inverter and Duracell battery stack were wall-mounted. The plant room layout was kept compact and organized with heavy-duty trunking for straightforward monitoring and ongoing maintenance.
“On a good generation day, this system powers the entire building, fills the batteries, and still has electricity left over to sell back to the grid. That is what a properly specified commercial solar installation looks like.”
Why Battery Storage is Essential for Care Facilities
Without battery storage, commercial solar gains are limited to daytime hours. By installing the Duracell Energy Wall stack, power generated at midday is stored and consumed at 2 AM — making grid power a backup rather than the primary supply.
For a 24/7 care facility, this converts modest savings into a major reduction in operating overheads, securing long-term price protection against commercial energy tariff increases.
What This Installation Included
- ✓High-efficiency black-frame monocrystalline solar panel array
- ✓SunSynk commercial hybrid inverter for intelligent load management
- ✓Duracell Energy Wall battery storage system (3 wall-mounted units)
- ✓Dedicated plant room electrical installation with heavy-duty trunking
- ✓DC isolators, surge protection, and commercial AC connection
- ✓Full commissioning, balancing, and G99 grid approval compliance
- ✓Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) registration documentation provided