Bring on the sun! – Solar Energy at Scottish Wood

76kW of solar panels gracing the roofs of Scottish Wood

In Spring 2024, Scottish Wood installed 76kw of solar panels on roofs across the our yard. This article by Dynamic Woods Operation Lead, Johannes Schamp, discusses the decision making behind the our solar investment.

Johannes Schamp, Operations Lead of Dynamic Woods

There is something frustrating to me about seeing a big roof that catches lots of sun yet has no solar panels on it. I spent years frustrated that Scottish Wood wasn’t using its significant roof surface area to generate energy. To me it felt like an obvious missed opportunity, especially with a fairly energy intensive business. When Jim convinced me to come on board and take on the Dynamic Woods remit, installing solar was high up on my to do list.

I’ll start by justifying my point on solar being a no-brainer. In a world full of different solutions to the climate crisis, solar is an easy win. The cost of panels has plummeted over the past 20 years, making it incredibly cost effective to install and resulting in a lower payback time. Our calculated payback time for Scottish Wood is 4 and a half years, and with an expected 25-year lifespan it will be saving the business money as well as generating an income for 20 years.

Solar generation also fits the profile of a business well. Unlike a residence, where a big portion of the energy use is in the evening when the sun isn’t shining, businesses generally operate during peak daylight hours, maximising their benefit. Warehouses and industrial buildings also have a lot of surface area and are fairly easy to access, allowing good scale and simple installation.

Additionally, as the past few years have shown us, energy prices can be volatile and can significantly increase operational costs very quickly. Having your own generation helps insulate you from wider fluctuations in the market and reduces overhead for the business. Solar also does all this while allowing you to reduce the environmental impact of your business and help contribute to the energy transition.

There are a few things to think about before committing to installing an array. First, consider the roofs you have on your site. The angle and aspect make a big difference. Generally speaking, the ideal is a south facing roof at a 30-degree incline. An east or west facing roof can drop 15% of generation potential and a north facing roof 30%. The angle has a smaller impact but ideally aim for between 20 and 40 degrees. A flat roof isn’t too bad as the panels can themselves be angled in this case. Having said that, panels are getting so cheap that it is not unheard of anymore to put panels on a north facing roof. Also make sure to account for any obstructions between the roof and the sun, as this will also significantly impact their output.

At Scottish Wood we have put panels on 3 roofs for a total generation of 76 kW, which worked out to 167 panels. One roof is a big south facing roof, the other two are east and west facing. Sadly, Scottish Wood did not take solar into account when designing buildings and lots of the roofs are east and west facing or north facing.

The process was fairly straightforward once we started. It’s definitely worth hunting around for different quotes to make sure you are getting a good deal. We then applied for our grid export connection and were allowed to install 150 kVA and decided to begin with installing half the capacity to begin with, hopefully adding the extra 74 kW in the future. The total cost of the project without VAT was just under £50,000 for panels, inverters, and installation plus £500 for the grid connection.

We decided against batteries to begin with since we use most of the generated electricity during the day, there are two residences onsite using electricity during the weekend and sunny summer evenings, and we have an onsite electric vehicle and are considering more which can act as rolling batteries to charge when we have excess.

As of writing the panels have been on and generating energy for about 6 months and the first bit of feedback I have is that I find it immensely satisfying seeing them there, especially on sunny days. I have found myself checking the generation app all the time, even when not there, to see how much electricity we are generating.

We have generated over 46,000 kWh of electricity, exported over 22,000 kWh to the grid, and the array has provided more than £10,000 in savings and income so far. All of that with it not having been a particularly sunny summer. Personally, I can’t wait to get the other 74 kW of solar on the roof.

One big, unexpected challenge we ended up having was a battle to secure our SEG export contract. While the best savings are made by reducing the amount of electricity you are importing from the grid, getting paid for what you export is an important part of the business case for solar. This part of the process ended up taking months, with issues around whether we had the right meter (we did), missing documents (that had long since been sent), and the supplier suddenly deciding we were a new customer and so not eligible for a certain rate. Funnily enough their billing team certainly knew we were customers and were still sending invoices. We have gotten there in the end, but it involved many unwanted and unexpected hours on the phone with customer service.

For anyone still unsure, Business Energy Scotland provides free advice and can help you assess the benefit of solar as well as other technologies that can reduce energy use or generate renewable energy. From my side, I am really happy to see panels on the roofs every time I come in to work and am looking forward to adding more in the future.

About the article

This article was written for the Association of Scottish Hardwood Sawmillers as an article in their journal, the Full Circle. To view the article in its original format you can head to the ASHS website to view the journal online or purchase a physical copy.

Johannes has an MsC in Environmental Management, and was the Operations Lead of Dynamic Woods from 2023 to 2025. Dynamic Woods is the mother charity of Scottish Wood – to learn more about our roots and the charity that owns Scottish Wood, read our story.

This blog post was updated in May 2026, as a part of the migration to the new Scottish Wood website.