Green Energy at Mountain View
Not only is Mountain View Innovation Centre the home of business innovation in the Isle of Man, it is also available as one of the most exciting venues on the Isle of Man too! Originally developed in 2001 as Island Studios, and recently given new investment and extensive refurbishment, Mountain View provides several venue opportunities.
As well as providing business incubator and co-working space together with event and venue space, the 25-acre site has been extensively landscaped and now boasts some of the most environmentally-friendly working spaces in Europe.
As one of the core company cultures is to be environmentally active, every step has been taken to make the site as green and energy efficient as possible; whether it be large scale initiatives or small changes that really make a big difference.
Leading the way with a huge solar array on the south facing roof of Studio One in 2018, Mountain View added three further arrays in the Summer of 2020, virtually doubling green-energy production on the site. With the first phase installation of 234 JA Solar Smart Modules combined with the additional 194 JA Solar Smart Modules, each capable of generating 320 Watts, the current total potential energy production for the Mountain View Site is a massive 126,430 Watts, generating over 880kWh per day. Although already generating enough energy to keep the site completely self-sufficient for energy for at least 6 months of the year, Mountain View continued to innovate, commissioning and installing a Tesla Power Pack System to maximise their energy harvest. With the capacity to store enough energy to power the entire site for 36 hours – or even an entire weekend when the consumption is lower, this setup is easily the largest storage energy system, and first of its kind, on the Isle of Man.
Click here to view our electricity production in real-time.
The Science Bit
The array consists of 428 JA Solar Smart Modules, providing an overall potential DC generation of 126Kwh of energy production for the site. Each module is complete with embedded smart optimisation, thus providing individual monitoring across the entire array to ensure maximum energy harvest is achieved across the lifespan of the system.
The array is controlled by five separate ‘SolarEdge’ three phase Inverters which convert the power in line with the Isle of Man mains supply. SolarEdge are a global leader in smart energy technology and the Mountain View system is covered by a 25 Year warranty to provide confidence that the system will more than pay back its investment. The electricity generated is distributed across the Mountain View Site – with surplus then fed into the Manx National Grid.
The design and installation of the system was undertaken by solar energy specialists, Manx Solar Energy – and AFD have warmly commended Martin Coyle and his team for all their patience, perseverance – and the remarkable results.
Charging Facilities
We have 6 x 22kw superfast EV chargers which take a ‘type 2’ connection, we also have 13 x 3kw ‘commando’ sockets.
Once the solar energy has been captured it runs through all the buildings on site. If demand is there, it is consumed, but if not, it is then stored in our Tesla Powerpacks with any surplus after than running back through the meter and exported to the grid.
If someone’s car is being charged at the time when we are producing excess of electricity then their car is being charged by the sun.