Renishaw PLC is a British engineering company based in Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire. The company specialises in measurement, motion control, healthcare, spectroscopy and manufacturing and is best known for its coordinate-measuring machines and machine tool products.

With more than 80 offices in 36 countries worldwide, The Renishaw Group are global leaders in R&D, industrial automation, engineering and manufacturing; with the majority of the company’s R&D and manufacturing being carried out here in the UK.

The company supplies products and services used in applications as diverse as jet engine and wind turbine manufacture, through to dentistry and brain surgery. It is also a world leader in the field of additive manufacturing (also referred to as 3D printing).

The Renishaw group is dedicated to sustainable manufacturing and is committed to reducing their GHG emissions and energy consumption worldwide. The organisation has implemented a group wide environmental policy of which solar and renewable energy plays an integral part.

Solarsense has been working with Renishaw on their on-going clean energy projects for more than five years. The large-scale solar PV installation situated on the organisation’s New Mills Innovation Centre (pictured above), was the first project completed for the company and was installed in three key phases. By incorporating a bespoke solar brise-soleil shading system, Renishaw were able to increase their overall output, reduce their reliance on mechanical cooling systems and visibly promote their commitment to reducing global carbon emissions.

Following the success of the initial New Mills solar scheme and a period of consultation, it was evident that many of the organisations energy intensive sites were an ideal match for solar PV and therefore Renishaw partnered with Solarsense again to develop another three sites situated in Wales and England.

Each individual site required a slightly different approach and presented a range of different obstacles to overcome, including; grid limitations, access issues and shading problems, however, the expert design teams were able to overcome these using a variety of specialist technologies.