Harnessing Norfolk sunshine: solar power at Holkham’s Egmere Farm

We were delighted to see our project with Holkham featured in the Eastern Daily Press.

It’s always rewarding to hear what an installation means for the people who work with it every day. At Holkham Emerald’s Egmere Farm, Norfolk sunshine is helping to keep the potatoes cool, with the roofs above the stores now helping to power the refrigeration below.

It’s also always gratifying to know what an installation really means for the people working there. Harry Barnett from Holkham Emerald said: “We talk about trying to be more circular in farming and this is a huge step forward in being more self-sufficient, reducing our footprint and becoming more sustainable.”

That ambition shaped the project from the start. Behind the panels is a system designed around how Egmere uses electricity and an installation that had to fit into the gap between one crop leaving storage and the next arriving.

Here’s a closer look at how it came together.

Keeping 7,000 tonnes of potatoes cool

Egmere Farm has storage for 7,000 tonnes of potatoes. Keeping that lot refrigerated takes a fair bit of electricity so the chillers were an important starting point for our design.

The busiest potato-loading period falls in the summer months, when solar generation is strong. That gives the farm a useful overlap between the electricity being generated on the roof and the equipment that needs it underneath.

To make the most of that overlap, we worked with the Holkham team to design and install a 422 kWp rooftop solar system across the potato store and the neighbouring general store, making the most of that opportunity.

Starting with electricity use, not available roof space

Holkham came to us wanting to reduce energy costs at Egmere while supporting the estate’s wider sustainability goals.

There were several possible locations for solar across the site. Rather than starting with the biggest roof and working out how many panels would fit, we looked at where electricity was being used, when it was needed and where solar could make the greatest difference.

Working through those options with the farm team led us to the two stores, and to a system designed around the way Egmere actually operates.

The potatoes set the timetable

Understanding the farm’s electricity demand was one part of the job. Finding the right time to install the system was another.

The previous potato-storage season ended in July and the next crop was due to arrive in August, so we carried out the installation in that gap, fitting the work around the farm’s storage requirements. 

It was still a busy working farm. Tractors, lorries and deliveries needed access, and day-to-day work had to carry on.

Holkham’s team brought the detailed site knowledge that helped us plan around those movements. Together, we coordinated access and organised the installation around the buildings and the people using them.

Those practical details matter just as much as the electrical design. A system has to suit the business it serves – and so does the work involved in getting it installed.

More of the farm’s power generated on site

The installation is expected to provide around 45% of the site’s electricity needs.

For Holkham, generating more electricity on site is also a practical step towards the more self-sufficient farm Harry described. The solar is helping to power equipment that already has an important job to do: storing the harvested crop. 

A clearer picture of where the energy goes

The project has also given the Holkham team a better understanding of the electricity the site produces and uses.

Holkham’s James Bracey said: “It’s given us complete visibility of the electricity that we generate and use directly on site.”

It’s a nice way for the project to come full circle. It began with understanding Egmere’s electricity demand, and now that the system is running, the team can see that demand – and what’s meeting it – in real detail.

Thanks to the Holkham team for working with us and sharing the story. It’s been a pleasure to work on a project shaped so closely around the farm, and to see it recognised in both publications.

Thinking about solar for your farm? Talk to us about how your site uses electricity and what you’d like to achieve.

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