Sundog MD’s company car now powered by the sun!

Cumbria’s pioneering solar PV experts Sundog Energy shows how to use the free power of the sun to reduce motoring costs to next to nothing.

Sundog Energy’s forward-thinking Managing Director Bill Roberts’s all-electric company car is now using the free power of the sun, generated direct from the company’s new state-of-the-art 14kWp roof top solar PV installation, it was announced today. And, having just clocked 10,000 miles in less than 6 months, Bill’s Nissan LEAF appears on the Nissan telemetrics website as one of the world’s highest mileage electric vehicles.

The LEAF’s advanced technology means it is also considerably cheaper to run than a conventional family hatchback.  While it would cost around 15 pence per mile in fuel to drive an equivalent sized petrol car, the LEAF can cost less than 2p per mile (depending on an individual's electricity tariff and time of charging).   If the car has been charged with your own solar electricity it is as near to free motoring as you can get.

According to Bill, “I Iove driving my electric car and it just goes to show that motoring really can be clean, green, quiet and fun, and with almost zero running costs now it is powered by our own solar generated electricity!”

“Solar PV is a wonderful investment.  Not only do you get a great return from your money but by generating your own green electricity, you are also investing in a positive legacy for future generations and the environment.  Motoring is a major cause of carbon emissions, so by shifting to solar powered electric cars, individuals and small businesses can cut their emissions as well as their running costs.”

Sundog Energy has installed a number of solar PV systems to power electric car charging points and is keen to demonstrate the connection between free energy from the sun and the positive steps individuals can take to reduce carbon emissions.

About Sundog Energy

• Sundog Energy designs and installs solar PV systems for UK households as well as commercial and public sector bodies.  Sundog Energy installs to the highest technical standards, as recognised in the company’s successful bid to design and install the ground-breaking solar PV system on the glazed roof of Kings Cross Station.   Sundog recently installed the PV system on Bradford Cathedral, the world‘s first solar powered cathedral. Sundog is also a distributor, supplying high quality solar PV panels, inverters, components and installation kits to independent solar installers throughout the UK.
• In October 2011 Sundog became the first solar PV Company to be awarded the highly-coveted Investors in People Silver award.
  Nissan LEAFs come with telemetrics, and statistics are gathered about each journey and uploaded to Nissan’s servers automatically.  This telemetry is available to leaf owners to see how their driving compares to other Nissan LEAFs.
• Bill previously worked in Government for seven years and moved to Cumbria as one of the founder directors of the NDA. He left when the NDA board was restructured in 2010 and joined Sundog Energy as co-owner and Managing Director in 2011.
• Sundog Energy was founded by Martin Cotterell and Ali Ross in 1995. Martin is one of the UK’s most respected solar energy experts and has been instrumental in establishing and improving industry standards for PV installations in the UK and internationally.  Martin is the major author of the UK Guide to the installation of PV systems and he worked on the development of engineering recommendations that govern grid-connection of PV in the UK.  Martin sits on the MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) PV and roofing technical working groups.  He also represents the UK on the IEC (International Electrotechnical Committee) working group on PV installations standards, which he also convenes.