Birmingham County Football Association

The Client

Birmingham County Football Association, also simply known as Birmingham County FA or BCFA, is an association football governing body covering the historic county of Warwickshire and the Black Country region.

The association’s goal was to reduce energy bills and generate its own power.

BCFA has set an ambitious net zero commitment by 2030 and the generation of power via a solar roof array would be a big step in achieving that. It is proud to have joined over 50 organisations across the West Midlands region in committing to the WM Net Zero Business Pledge and has also launched its Save Today, Play Tomorrow programme for low-carbon football.

It is committed to pioneering the way in which football minimises the impact of its activities on the environment and aims to be a pilot for the 1,200 affiliated clubs in the region.

In February 2021 the association was accepted as signatories of the UN’s Sport for Climate Action Framework, joining some of the most recognisable sporting establishments from across the globe in supporting the five key principles that will help reduce the carbon footprint in the game.

The BCFA also felt that, with rising energy costs, it was the right time to make a capital investment to support the environmental and economic sustainability of the business.

Through the BCFA’s partnership with UtilityWorks it was introduced to SaveMoneyCutCarbon for an initial conversation, followed by a desktop survey that clearly demonstrated the benefits of the investment in the solar array.

SaveMoneyCutCarbon worked with UtilityWorks to supply and install a 19.98kW solar PV system at its offices in Ray Hall Lane, Great Barr – 54x 370W Mono Optimised PV Modules with a smart SolarEdge Inverter to maximize energy production, safety and reliability, and online PV monitoring.

The works were carried out using a slate mounting system and included installation of a MID approved generation meter.

The project was fully managed, including structural and electrical surveys with design, layout and system specification. Following testing and commissioning, the handover was completed, along with delivery of the operation and maintenance manual.