A surge in demand for eco-friendly accommodations has led Hideaway @ Baxby Manor, a popular holiday resort near York, to embrace renewable energy, transforming its power supply with a 52kW solar array and a 120kWh BYD Battery-Box energy storage system. This innovative move caters to the growing desire for sustainable travel and addresses the resort’s energy needs economically and ecologically.

Eco-friendly Glamping at The Hideaway @ Baxby Manor (©Baxby Manor).

As the popularity of reconnecting with nature has soared, so has the demand for luxurious and eco-friendly camping experiences. The concept of ‘glamping’, or glamorous camping, has evolved to meet this need, offering holidaymakers the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors without forgoing modern conveniences. Baxby Manor has been at the forefront of this trend, expanding its range of accommodations over the past decade from traditional campsites to fairy-tale wooden cabins resembling hobbit homes and treehouses.

In late 2022, when the owners decided to add fully-equipped ‘Kabinas’ – wooden cabins complete with kitchens, showers, lighting, air-to-air heat pumps, and hot tubs – they encountered a significant obstacle. The existing 60A single-phase grid supply was insufficient to meet the additional power demand, and upgrading the grid connection capacity in this rural location would have been prohibitively expensive. Keen to maintain their eco-friendly ethos while offering higher-standard amenities, the owners collaborated with renewable energy specialist Vero Power to devise a sustainable solution.

The result was a 52kW photovoltaic (PV) system combined with a 120kWh energy storage solution implemented with eight BYD Battery-Box systems. This setup covers the additional energy demand of the new accommodations and supplies the bulk of the resort’s power requirements with green energy. The existing grid supply serves as a backup battery charger during poor solar yield.

Alvaro Garcia, Commercial Director, EFT Systems, European service partner of BYD Battery-Box (©BYD).

Installed in March 2023, despite snowy conditions in the northern UK, the system has already generated 12,408kWh of energy in its first three months of operation, with only around 10% of energy consumption (1,448kWh) drawn from the grid to top up the batteries. This remarkable achievement underscores the system’s efficiency and the viability of using PV and energy storage as a primary power source, with grid power as a backup.

Alvaro Garcia, Commercial Director at EFT Systems, European service partner of BYD Battery-Box, noted, “Being able to camp in a sustainable way is only going to make The Hideaway an even more attractive destination.” The modular structure of the BYD Battery-Box LVL allows for seamless expansion of electricity and storage capacity as demand increases, a flexibility unthinkable with grid supply expansion.

Craig Morgan, Chief Commercial Officer at Vero Power, highlighted the rising demand for sustainable power sources across the tourism and leisure sectors. He expressed pride in their partnership with BYD and commended their market-leading technology and dedication to project success.

Today, visitors to Hideaway @ Baxby Manor can relax in front of hobbit-like wooden cabins, enjoy hot tub baths after hiking, and watch children race across the meadow, all while knowing their stay is powered by clean, renewable energy.

As the global push for sustainability continues to gain momentum, innovative solutions like those implemented at Baxby Manor demonstrate the potential for businesses to meet increasing demand while minimizing their environmental impact.

Written by: Jill Walsh

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