FEATURE
Before – How the stand roof looked before the solar panels were installed .
During – work underway on installing Durata ’ s PV system .
Sunderland - has become something for other higher ranked teams to look at .
Durata ’ s managing director John McGee said : “ Geoff is working wonders there and he is very innovative – highlighted by how he is portraying his vision to everyone else .
“ He has built this fantastic new stand . He has invested in that and with our help he doesn ’ t rely on the grid for his electricity any more .
“ We would like to see this approach used by more clubs . Football clubs only run in anger once or twice a month and this is something that I can only see catching on .”
Durata has utilised its design department to ensure that all cables involved in the project have been integrated into the existing infrastructure . A bespoke design tool was used to overlay the panels using Google Earth .
Based on the orientation of the building , the tool provided solar-specific data in respect of the elevation of the sun and from there Durata has predicted the solar panel benefits very accurately for South Shields .
John added : “ Everyone is talking about the price of energy and fuel right now , and people say an average household will use around £ 3,900 worth a year after January
Energised – Durata MD John McGee .
- imagine that cost for something the size of a football club .
“ I have just been to a music festival for four days and they were running generators during that time . Imagine a field full of solar panels and wind turbines , charging lithium batteries and renting it to a festival . That ’ s another example of what can possibly be achieved . Then run the festival on lithium batteries and have diesel as back up . That would then be green-to-green power !”
Durata has a lot of interest in rolling out more PV systems in Scotland and wants to see more businesses and sports clubs , including golf clubs , take that approach south of the border .
To have reached this stage in its ninth year , Durata is proud of what has been achieved already and has recently taken on five new members of staff , including two graduates from the University of Teesside .
“ Our turnover has gone up and down over the years and now it is creeping back up in the right way because we have learned lessons , choosing our client base carefully ,” said John .
“ We work with original equipment manufacturers ( OEM ), facilities managers ( FM ) and end users ( EU ). What those all mean in essence is that we are now installing kit that has already been sold to businesses , we are working as the chosen experts of the FMs and we are a trusted business partner for an end user such as South Shields .
“ We have worked hard to be the chosen experts and trusted partners of businesses in their fields and looking at our forecasts , that is only set to continue over the next year .
“ To sum it up , this latest work we are doing compliments Durata ’ s initial vision of being ‘ the critical power infrastructure specialists ’ and we continue to grow , which is highlighted by our latest hires and relationships with the University of Teesside .”
For further information check out durataups . co . uk
The voice of business in the Tees region | 109