How we’re using solar panels to power our vans
9 November 2021
When it comes to the environment, we know every small change is important and adds up, over time, to much larger shifts.
Our fleet is varied, but one type of vehicle – our sewer CCTV vans – are very specialist vehicles, designed to house cameras that can go down drains to check the condition of the pipes. Previously, the van equipment was powered through an inverter, which was in turn powered by the van engine running. As you can imagine, running an engine whenever you want to use the onboard equipment isn’t ideal as it causes both exhaust emissions and noise for local residents.
Enter Daryll Rushton, one of our CCTV operatives who is based up in Denbigh. Inspired by a Facebook group for people building their own campervans, he had the great idea of installing solar panels on our CCTV vans to power their equipment. After all, many people who own campervans use solar panels on top of their vans to power their kettles and other electrical equipment. Could it work for our CCTV vans?
After discussing the idea with his manager, they submitted it to our transport team, who loved it. The transport team quickly got to work, contacting several third-party companies to investigate whether it could be done. The challenge was to find a lightweight solar panel that would produce enough power and be compatible with the onboard equipment.
Within four weeks of Daryll submitting his idea, through the hard work of the transport team, it had become a reality. Now the panels are being rolled out across all our CCTV vans within our operational area. For the operatives like Daryll, now they can park their vehicle quietly and with no exhaust emissions or noise, as the solar power should facilitate a full day’s work without needing to turn on the engine.
As is often said, this is a great example of how innovative ideas often come from within the team itself. Thanks to our transport team for putting in the hard work behind the scenes to make it a reality and Daryll for coming up with the idea in the first place.
We have no doubt there’ll be plenty more inspiring ideas to come - who knows what our colleagues will come up with in the next ten years!