Keeping up with the Times

R A Chilton Ltd are a local business based at Tarvin Sands providing copper electroplating to customers mainly in the UK and China. We electroplate the copper rotors used in PCB drilling spindles.

Electroplating requires the process tanks to be heated and running 24/7, and each batch of work takes up to 2 weeks in a process tank. That consumes a considerable amount of electricity, so we have set about trying to reduce consumption and generate some of our own electricity.

In July last year we installed 17kW of solar panels on the roof. So far that has generated 10,500kWh of electricity. The advantage of using solar electricity to run a process rather than installing on a house is that we have a very steady electricity consumption, so we are almost guaranteed to use all the electricity we produce, and still receive the feed in tariff payments.

It is a good feeling knowing that we are contributing to green electricity production, our solar panels have saved about 4 tons of Carbon Dioxide so far, but make no mistake, this was a business decision to save money on our electricity bill and we are expecting a payback in less than 7 years. (see graph)

The best few months of the year are still to come. Follow us on Facebook to get updates. www.facebook.com/rachilton

If you are interested in our copper plating take a look at our new website www.rachilton.com