--- title: Solar panel investment saves more than £600k annually | Betterworld.Solutions description: Betterworld founder Chris Rea reveals how AESSEAL and other Yorkshire businesses are tackling the energy crisis and helping the planet…with a little help from their friends. image: https://betterworld.solutions/hubfs/AES-solar-panels-installed-1%20(1).jpg --- Together as business leaders, we can make a difference. 'Heroes of Net Zero' [Follow Us](https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-rea-8961b617/detail/recent-activity/posts/) [![](https://betterworld.solutions/hubfs/raw_assets/public/bw-theme/images/bw-logo-01.svg)](https://betterworld.solutions/) - - [Why we are taking action](https://betterworld.solutions/statement) - [Real World Examples](https://betterworld.solutions/examples) - [Net Zero Training](https://betterworld.solutions/net-zero-sustainability-training) - [Create your own Policy](https://betterworld.solutions/form) - Menu Menu # Solar panel investment saves more than £600k annually ![AES-solar-panels-installed-2](https://betterworld.solutions/hubfs/Betterworld/news/AES-solar-panels-installed-2%20(3).jpg "AES-solar-panels-installed-2")   Betterworld is a philanthropic organisation set up by AESSEAL plc and is intended to limit the negative consequences of climate change.  Betterworld members have a Board level commitment to put environmental projects first, but also to provide a direct conduit for environmental projects to the Board, for their own workforce, suppliers and customers. For this reason, I wanted to give credit where credit is due, with regard to our own decision to invest heavily in solar panel since we are about to benefit to the value of **£636,500** a year as a result of inspiration and best practice sharing from another Betterworld member, Gripple Ltd ( Gripple). The founder of Gripple, Hugh Facey, advised AESSEAL that Gripple had already installed over 900 solar panels on various factory roofs in the Sheffield area. That best practice was shared with the Board of AESSEAL plc (AES), who were internally advised “our roofs are not strong enough to take solar panels”. Further investigation determined that as the business had grown in phases, about half of the roofs were in fact strong enough to take solar panels. An investment case was made to improve insulation on the remaining roof space, which also reduced fire risk, but with the intention of make the remainder of the roof strong enough to support even more solar panels. At the time the decision was made to recondition roofs and buy 2300 solar panels, AES had just re-signed electricity contracts at an average rate of 6p per kilowatt hour and gas at 2p per kilowatt hour.  The price cap for electricity was raised between 1st October 2021 and 31st March 2022 to 21p per kilowatt hour for electricity and 4p per kilowatt hour for gas.  From 1st April 2022 to December 2022 the cap was raised to 28p per kilowatt hour for electricity and 7p per kilowatt hour for gas. From 1st October 2022 to 31st December 2022 the price cap was once again raised to 52p per kilowatt hour for electricity and 15p per kilowatt hour for gas Businesses do not fall under the price cap and if renewed ,at the time of writing, electricity would cost the business 85p per kilowatt hour, a staggering 14 times more, and gas would cost 26p per kilowatt hour, a staggering 13 times more. In summary one of the largest beneficiaries of the Betterworld initiative is its founder, AESSEAL, as a direct result of their Board of Directors gratefully receiving best practice input from a Betterworld member, Gripple. AESSEAL and Betterworld would like to thank Gripple and Hugh Facey for reducing the annual energy bill at its Rotherham Headquarters by an estimated £636,500 a year when the installation of the 2,300 solar panels is completed. NOTES For the full 936 kilowatt peak array (solar energy generated from 2,300 solar panels) AESSEAL expects annual generation to be around 748,800 kWh.  At £0.85 /kWh this delivers annual savings of approximately £636,500. ![](https://betterworld.solutions/hubfs/Betterworld/chris-rea-thumb.jpeg) Follow the journey and keep up to speed with the updates in our [Betterworld.Solutions magazine](https://betterworld.solutions/magazine.html) and the #29millionby29 campaign on [Chris Rea’s LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-rea-8961b617/). ### **Explore** If enough businesses act, together we can slow down or help to prevent Global Warming. [![](https://betterworld.solutions/hubfs/raw_assets/public/bw-theme/images/footer-panel/footer-panel-3.png)](https://betterworld.solutions/examples/c02-savings-in-mechanical-seal-usage) ### **A Summary of Evidence** We estimate that widespread adoption of more climate-friendly policies in industry globally, could have the equivalent impact of taking [630.5 million](https://betterworld.solutions/examples/c02-savings-in-mechanical-seal-usage) cars off the roads. [![](https://betterworld.solutions/hubfs/raw_assets/public/bw-theme/images/footer-panel/footer-panel-2.png)](https://betterworld.solutions/examples) ### **Real World Examples** Just a few examples where we have the know-how to do things differently and help both the environment and the bottom line. [![](https://betterworld.solutions/hubfs/raw_assets/public/bw-theme/images/footer-panel/footer-panel-1.png)](https://betterworld.solutions/form) ### **Create your Policy** The case for a great return on investment, from water and energy savings is very clear. "Adopt an [Investment Policy to Prevent Global Warming](https://betterworld.solutions/form)". ### Popular Links - [Video Diary Box Set](https://betterworld.solutions/video-diary-box-set) - [CO2 Summary Table](https://betterworld.solutions/examples/c02-savings-in-mechanical-seal-usage) - [Steam Turbines Case Study](https://betterworld.solutions/examples/c02-savings-in-mechanical-seal-usage/refineries-steam-turbines#video-case-study) - [Pulp & Paper Calculations](https://betterworld.solutions/examples/c02-savings-in-mechanical-seal-usage/pulp-and-paper-plants) - [Betterworld Newsletter](https://betterworld.solutions/newsletter) - [Net Zero Training](https://betterworld.solutions/net-zero-sustainability-training) ![Betterworld Solutions logo white](https://betterworld.solutions/hubfs/raw_assets/public/bw-theme/images/betterworld-solutions-logo-1.png) The AESSEAL plc [Investment Policy to Prevent Global Warming](https://betterworld.solutions/form) is a business-friendly investment policy intended to encourage all stakeholders in any organisation to bring sustainability projects that match the stated aim of that organisation’s policy, to the attention of the right people. Follow us on social media  https://betterworld.solutions is made in association with AESSEAL plc | Registered office address - AESSEAL plc, Global Technology Centre, Bradmarsh Business Park, Mill Close Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S60 1BZ | Registered in the UK, Company Number 2101607 | You can find the group [Privacy & Cookie Policy here](https://betterworld.solutions/privacy-policy) . - [Home](https://betterworld.solutions/) - [Why we are Taking Action](https://betterworld.solutions/statement) - [Create your own Policy](https://betterworld.solutions/form) - [A Summary of Evidence](https://betterworld.solutions/examples/c02-savings-in-mechanical-seal-usage) - [Real World Examples](https://betterworld.solutions/examples) - [Video Diary Box Set](https://betterworld.solutions/video-diary-box-set) - [Betterworld Newsletter](https://betterworld.solutions/newsletter) - [Net Zero Training](https://betterworld.solutions/net-zero-sustainability-training) - [Real World Examples](https://betterworld.solutions/examples) - [Renewable Energy](https://betterworld.solutions/examples?f=renewable) - [Waste Reduction](https://betterworld.solutions/examples?f=waste) - [Water Savings](https://betterworld.solutions/examples?f=water) - [Power Conservation](https://betterworld.solutions/examples?f=power) - [Lowering Emissions](https://betterworld.solutions/examples?f=lowering) - [Recycling](https://betterworld.solutions/examples?f=recycling) × ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Ava Jones", "url" : "https://betterworld.solutions/examples/author/ava-jones" }, "dateModified" : "2026-09-14T14:02:20.537Z", "datePublished" : "2023-02-16T12:00:06.000Z", "headline" : "Solar panel investment saves more than £600k annually | Betterworld.Solutions", "image" : [ "https://betterworld.solutions/hubfs/AES-solar-panels-installed-1%20(1).jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://betterworld.solutions/examples/solar-panel-investment-saves-more-600k-annually", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://betterworld.solutions/hubfs/aesseal_branding/AESSEAL-text-logo.jpg" }, "name" : "AESSEAL plc" } } ```