THE firm behind an award-winning green generator has said that the innovation can help firms fast track applications to carry out works in ultra-low emission zones.
Lifos is the provider of the Fort solar PV battery storage system, which recently won the Plantworx Environment Initiative Award. The storage system comes in three models: 12kWh, 23kWh, and 35kWh, all providing an 11kVa output and supplied with 3.4kW of solar panels.
Billed as reducing noise and emissions when compared to a traditional diesel generator, Richard Atwal, business development manager at Lifos, told Project Plant that it can also reduce diesel runtime by up to 80%, leading to a potential saving of over £1,000 a week in diesel.
The firm heavily invested in its battery expert team to bring the product to the construction and plant sectors after spotting an opportunity to deliver its capabilities to these industries following previous works in the marine and leisure sectors.
“We’ve got real confidence in our batteries,” Richard explained. “That enables us to do things like give a five-year warranty on the product, and after seven years we will come in and buy back the battery through our seven year switch programme. We replace them with new batteries and repurpose the old batteries into other uses.”
Although diesel generators are not outlawed in ultra-low emission zones, Richard explained that special permission has to be applied for in cities such as London as well as a user fee being paid.
“When you apply for planning permission you can say we’ve got green power on site, we’re going to be using a non-diesel generator, and it makes it a lot easier to get it through,” Richard said, adding that it also reduces the amount of journeys lorries have to make to site. “If you’ve got a diesel generator on site you’ve got to have a diesel delivery every two or three days; with a Fort product you can probably reduce that to less than once a week.”
Another perk is the 18 solar panels the product features. Richard revealed there was a ‘lot’ of interest in the machine at Plantworx, with several visitors to the stand revealing that they had either won or lost jobs because of solar as many local authorities and larger contractors are now asking for an element of solar on site to help meet climate targets.
“What I thought was quite unique is that we pack 18 solar panels, and they can be assembled and put onto any welfare cabin or container on site,” Richard said. “So, you can actually bring usable green power to your site without taking up any footprint and this further helps with the amount of diesel and CO2 you save.”
Reflecting on the Plantworx award win, Richard said it was ‘brilliant’ for the team to be recognised for the innovation after dedicating 18 months of development into it.
“That led to a lot of people talking to us, plenty of big companies as well,” he said. “It was quite stiff competition against some big, international companies and the judges really took an in-depth dive into the product. They really understood what it was about and the actual usable benefits it brought the plant and construction industries.”
Lifos isn’t sleeping on its win, however. Richard revealed work is already underway with a specialist company on utilising the latest lithium LFP battery technology as well as looking into sodium batteries. Advancements will also be sought in some of the telematics and how the firm monitors the product, all with the hope of continuously evolving it.
