SolarSense Shares Practical Clean Energy Lessons at Green Goals 2026

SolarSense Director of Sales & Marketing, Adrian Thomas, took to the stage at Green Goals 2026, held at Manchester Conference Centre, to share practical lessons from renewable energy projects delivered across the sport and leisure sector.

Adrian’s session focused on a question facing many sport and leisure operators: how can essential community facilities reduce their exposure to rising energy costs while continuing to make progress towards Net Zero? 

Drawing on real-world projects delivered by SolarSense and its partners, Adrian explored how solutions across solar PV, battery storage and solar carports can help organisations strengthen energy resilience and reduce carbon emissions.  

From rising energy costs to long-term resilience 

Consider the heating of pools, extensive operating hours and power-hungry equipment associated with sport and leisure facilities, and it’s easy to see why organisations in the industry often have high and consistent energy demand. The need for significant and uninterrupted energy inputs opens these organisations up to price volatility – but this is a challenge that solar PV and battery storage can help to solve. 

Adrian highlighted that clean energy projects are most effective when they’re treated as long-term infrastructure investments, rather than standalone installations. For operators managing complex estates, this means looking carefully at site constraints, energy profiles, funding routes, future electrification and ongoing system performance.  

Freedom Leisure: responding to the energy crisis 

One of the key case studies Adrian discussed was SolarSense’s work with Freedom Leisure. After seeing annual energy costs rise from £8 million to £22 million during the energy crisis, Freedom Leisure began working with SolarSense on a strategic rollout of solar PV and battery storage across ten leisure centres in England and Wales. 

The programme includes 3,451 solar panels, with a combined system size of 1.56MWp and 156kWh of battery storage. It is projected to deliver £340,789 in first-year energy savings, with an average payback period of 3.5 years and 25-year savings of £12.7 million. 

The project shows how a multi-site approach can help leisure operators reduce exposure to energy market volatility, while creating a scalable model for wider estate decarbonisation. 

LC Swansea: maximising performance at a busy public facility 

Adrian also shared SolarSense’s work at LC Swansea. Another facility operated by Freedom Leisure, the LC is one of Wales’ leading leisure spaces and welcomes around 1.8 million visitors each year.  

For this project, SolarSense designed the system to maximise generation from the available roof space, using premium solar panels and optimiser technology to improve performance and reduce the impact of shading and soiling. Careful planning and communication were required throughout the project to minimise any disruption experienced by members and visitors. 

The completed system includes 616 solar panels and is expected to generate 274,835kWh of electricity each year, with 85% of the power consumed on site. It’s projected to deliver first-year energy savings of £48,470, with a payback period of three years. 

Cheltenham Lido: beyond the rooftop 

Our Cheltenham Lido project served as an effective showcase for Adrian to demonstrate the team’s innovative approach when faced with roof space that is limited, constrained or already in use. At this facility, SolarSense delivered a solar carport installation that helps power the outdoor swimming facility and other on-site operations, while also providing sheltered parking for visitors. 

The system includes 500 solar panels and is expected to generate 221,713kWh of electricity each year. First-year energy savings of £52,656 are projected, with 25-year savings of £2.3 million. 

London Stadium: overcoming complex infrastructure challenges 

London Stadium provided another example of how renewable energy can be delivered in technically challenging environments. 

As part of a wider programme to reduce grid electricity consumption, SolarSense supported Ameresco with the delivery of a large-scale solar installation using ultra-lightweight solar PV technology, rather than conventional solar panels, which wouldn’t have been viable.  

The system includes 3,369 panels, and is expected to generate approximately 850,000kWh of electricity each year, reducing carbon emissions by around 176 tonnes annually. 

Practical lessons for sport and leisure organisations 

Across the projects discussed at Green Goals 2026, Adrian highlighted several consistent lessons:  

• The best starting point is often the site or facility with the highest energy use, where solar PV can have the greatest immediate impact. Battery storage, solar carports and EV charging can then help organisations increase value, improve resilience and prepare for future energy demands. 

• Funding also plays an important role. While capital investment can maximise long-term returns, payment plans, hire purchase and Power Purchase Agreements can help organisations move forward without waiting for large capital budgets to become available. 

• Just as importantly, long-term system performance needs to be protected. Monitoring, maintenance and proactive fault identification help ensure renewable energy systems continue to deliver the savings and carbon reductions they were designed to achieve.