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Sustainable power for solar farm construction, with 94% less fuel
The challenge: making every stage of a solar farm build as green as the farm itself
The customer, a UK solar farm contractor, was building a solar farm. The finished site will generate clean power, and the customer wanted the build to reflect that from the first day on site. For context, during construction the farm can't draw on its own panels or batteries, because using them before handover would compromise its status as a new-build asset. The build therefore needs a separate, temporary power source to run tools, welfare and site infrastructure while the farm goes up around it.
That temporary power was the opportunity. The customer wanted a more sustainable, environmentally sympathetic and cost-effective way to power its sites off-grid, one that would cut air pollution significantly without affecting how efficiently the site ran.
The solution: SiteGrid X200 BESS built for cleaner off-grid power
Think Hire, a division of Think Energy Group, supplied and installed a SiteGrid X200 battery energy storage system (BESS) on site, working in a hybrid setup alongside a 150kVA generator. Installed on 31 May 2026, the SiteGrid X200 stores and delivers power to the site, drawing on the generator only when it's genuinely needed rather than running it continuously as the sole power source. That hybrid approach let the customer keep the reliability of generator backup while cutting how often it actually had to run. Powering the build this way means Think Hire is supporting renewable energy development sustainably, making every stage of the project greener, from the first day of the build to the finished farm.
The results: one month of hybrid running.
Think Hire measured the SiteGrid hybrid setup against a standard diesel generator over 30 days, from 1 to 30 June 2026.
Over the month, the SiteGrid X200 avoided 28.83 tonnes of CO2 compared with running a standard generator on its own.
With the SiteGrid X200 battery carrying the load, the generator ran for just 5% of the period. Less generator runtime means less noise, giving a 95% reduction in noise pollution.
Operating cost, including hire and fuel, fell by 57% against the standard generator. Fuel consumption fell by 94%, saving 10,839 litres of diesel over the month.
For the customer, that's a solar farm build powered more sustainably at every stage, running on a fraction of the diesel, noise and cost of a standard generator, without giving up the reliability that generator backup provides. It matters twice over: it protects the margin on the project, and it keeps the environmental case for a renewable energy build intact while the farm is still under construction.
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28.83 Tonnes CO2 Emissions Avoided
57% Operating Cost Reduced
95% Noise Pollution Reduced
94% Fuel Consumption Reduced