Energy Management Brings Sustainability and Savings to Suttons Farm

Output power, storage capacity, and generation. Everything optimised and tailored to the farm’s requirements using Wattstor’s energy management system, Podium

Energy Management at Suttons Farm 

Suttons Farm consists of numerous buildings for both agricultural and residential use. The forward-thinking site owner had made a significant investment in decarbonising the heating of the site overall, yet this meant that the daily electricity import was in excess of 100 kWh. Wattstor implemented its unique energy management system and battery energy storage solution to help Suttons Farm use its own energy more efficiently and cut costs.

The Challenge 

The 3 phase site supply has an Economy 7 tariff, which allows the site to benefit from electricity at just 8p per unit overnight. However, the daytime remained the highest consumption period, and the highest cost. Daily spend on electricity was becoming an increasingly good opportunity for optimisation.

The Suttons Farm site, a combination of agricultural/processing buildings and residential

The Wattstor Solution 

Wattstor installed its Energy Management System, Podium, at Suttons Farm before any other assets.

This installation allowed us to monitor power consumption at the sub-distribution board level with exceptional accuracy. Using this real and accurate data, we specified an integrated solar storage system tailored to the farm’s needs in output power, storage capacity, and generation.

We sized a single piece 3-phase inverter/charger to match the site’s maximum power demand, ensuring a future-proof solution. We then added DC solar PV gradually to the system as we developed different roofs, crucially without needing separate G99 applications. Over several months, we will add a total of 60kWp of solar PV, commissioning each array as we install them.

We also manage a 108 kWh Pylontech battery in the closed-loop system, providing storage that meets the site’s daily import needs, minus direct solar consumption. In summer, this captures excess generation for nighttime use. In winter, we fill the battery with off-peak tariff electricity at night to replace daytime import.

Podium forms a closed loop controller for the battery system, accurately matching inverter output with the demand for power on site. The nature of the system means that in future the site can also integrate thermal storage into the energy management scheme. This activates heat pumps when the battery is full.

The Pylontech battery system and Refu solar inverter controlled by Wattstor’s intelligent EMS, Podium