Alectrona
Commercial solar & storage · over 50 kWpCommercial solar over 50 kWp sits outside MCS, so the trust signal is the engineering, not a domestic badge. We design to the standards that govern this work, specify panels lenders will finance, and prove the numbers with a survey, not a satellite photo.
An on-site 3D drone survey and a bankable-grade PV*SOL model on every quote. The most accurate commercial quotations in the market.
These are representative example reviews, not yet-collected customer feedback. They are written to illustrate the kind of feedback Alectrona aims to earn and are shown as design placeholders while we gather and verify reviews from our first commercial clients. Alectrona is the commercial solar trading brand of RVTC LTD.
What set Alectrona apart was the documented design pack. We had quotes from three installers, but only Alectrona handed us a full set of drawings, a single-line diagram and a design referencing BS 7671 and the G99 connection process. The whole thing read like an engineering submission rather than a sales brochure. Our M&E consultant reviewed it and signed it off without a single query. That gave the board the confidence to release the capital.
Other firms priced our roof off a satellite image and a desktop guess. Alectrona flew an in-house drone survey, fully insured and flown by a qualified commercial drone pilot, and built a 3D model of the actual roof. It picked up plant, vents and a parapet line that a flat aerial photo had completely missed, which changed the panel layout. I would rather find that out at design stage than on the day the scaffold goes up. The accuracy of that survey is the reason I trusted everything that followed.
As a finance director I was wary of being oversold a system bigger than we could use. Alectrona modelled the array against our actual half-hourly consumption data rather than an annual total, so it is sized to what we genuinely draw on site during the day. They were honest that exporting surplus is worth far less than self-consumption, and built the design around that. The capital case stacked up because the engineering was honest, not because the numbers were inflated.
We were undecided between buying outright, leasing and a PPA. Alectrona laid out all three side by side with the pros and cons of each against our balance sheet, instead of pushing the one that pays them best. They were clear about where a PPA makes sense and where capex wins, and pointed us at our own accountant for the tax treatment. The survey and design took a little longer than I expected, but the thoroughness was worth the wait. Genuinely consultative.
The install crew were tidy and well run, and worked to a clear CDM 2015 plan with a proper site induction and RAMS. What impressed me most was the handover. We received a full commissioning pack with the IEC 62446-1 test results, certification, O&M documentation and an as-built record for our maintenance team. As the people who have to live with this asset for the next twenty years, having that paperwork in order matters enormously. Nothing was left loose.
I expected the usual hard sell and got the opposite. After surveying our site Alectrona told us one roof section was not worth covering because of shading, and that a smaller, well-sited array was the better investment than filling every square metre. There was no commission-driven upselling and no pressure. For a six-figure capital project, that straight talk is exactly what you want from the people advising you. We will be using them again on our second site.
Flownbydrone.
ModelledinPV*SOL,bankablebydesign.
Designedbeforewesellit.
Beforeyousignanything.
Themostaccuratequotesintheindustry.
These are indicative ranges for a well-matched commercial roof, framed at the conservative end. Your figure comes from the survey and the PV*SOL model, never from a rule of thumb.
payback can be as little as ~3 years (including the year-one AIA saving); typically ~3.5–5 years, depending on consumption profile, tariff and roof
around 15–25% IRR over its life / ~25% annual return net of maintenance, after first-year capital allowances
up to ~60% on a well-matched site, more typically ~40–50%, depending on consumption profile and roof space
Representative example, not a quote. Figures assume a well-matched commercial site sized for self-consumption, a typical commercial import tariff, generation modelled in PV*SOL for the specific roof, and the year-one Annual Investment Allowance applied where the route is capex. Actual results depend on your consumption profile, roof space and tariff. Your own figures come from the on-site survey and model.
Indicative, not financial or tax advice. Confirm the position with a qualified accountant or tax adviser. Your figure comes from a survey-led PV*SOL model.
Our own insured pilot flies your roof and captures the real geometry and shading, so the design starts from your building instead of a satellite guess.
Booked to suit your operating hours
We model the array in bankable-grade software, size it around your daytime load, and set out generation, savings and payback across three funding routes.
Modelled, not promised
Designed and installed to BS 7671, commissioned to IEC 62446-1, connected under G99 and run under CDM 2015. Alectrona is typically the Principal Contractor.
Outside MCS, assured by the non-MCS stack
A 12-month defects period backed by an Insurance-Backed Guarantee, then ongoing operations and maintenance so the asset keeps earning for its full working life.
Kept performing, year on year
We do not quote from a desktop. Our own qualified, insured pilot (A2 CofC and GVC) flies a 3D drone survey of your roof, and we build the design in PV*SOL, the bankable-grade software lenders model against.
That gives full shading analysis from the actual building, not a guess off an aerial image. The generation, the savings and the payback are calculated from real geometry, and we do it on every quote.
A quote is only as good as the survey behind it. Ours starts on your roof, which is how we give the most accurate commercial quotations in the market.
So you can choose on the facts, not on a sales pitch. Capex gives the best return where the capital is there; the others trade some return for cash flow, and we will tell you straight which one fits your balance sheet.
Businesses with the capital to invest. The best return: you own a 25-year asset from day one and keep every saving and every pound of tax relief.
Capex explainedSpreading the cost so the system can be cash-flow neutral, while keeping the asset and the tax position. On or off balance sheet depends on the agreement.
Leasing & hire purchaseZero capital outlay: a funder owns the system and you buy the power it generates, usually below grid price. We say plainly that a PPA largely benefits the funder, so capex still gives the better return where it is an option.
How a PPA worksWe lead on financeability, then prove reliability. Here is what each credential we cite actually means, in plain terms. The full, sourced explainer sits on the panels page.
A lender's benchmark: the maker has put its own modules into enough bank-financed projects to clear non-recourse finance. It measures bankability, not module quality, so we name the scheme and the quarter and re-verify the exact module before contract.
A quarterly financial-grade assessment of a maker's capacity, balance sheet and shipment record, graded AAA down through the bands. A grade, not a pass-or-fail list.
An independent US laboratory that stress-tests production samples for how a module degrades and survives in the field, and names the best Top Performers. The part Tier 1 does not measure.
The Silicon Module Super League was an analyst grouping of the era's largest makers. Historical scale only, never a quality or bankability badge, so we always show it in the past tense.
The two modules we lead with
N-type ABC (All Back Contact), dual-glass
N-type TOPCon (MBB, double-glass bifacial)
Behind the two we lead with sits a 10-brand line-up of independently assessed makers, so the right module is chosen for your roof rather than the one a salesperson is pushing. We name the specific scheme, grade and quarter for the exact module we propose, and re-verify it before contract.
Read the full bankability explainerWarehousing and logistics give the biggest, simplest roofs in the region; manufacturing and cold storage self-consume the most. We will tell you honestly whether your site stacks up.
MCS does not cover systems this size, so the rigour is what you rely on instead. These are the component-level standards we hold on every install, at commercial scale.
MC4 plug-and-socket connectors are one of the most common failure points in the UK installed base, and the field-made ones are where the risk lives. Every connector we crimp on site gets a sealed ArcBox enclosure: weatherproof, UV-stable, and proof against the arcing-on-corroded-pins failure behind many rooftop PV fires. Diagnosed in real time through our sister company, Solar Tech Support.
A commercial array is a large metal structure on an exposed roof, wired straight into your distribution board. We earth and bond every array to BS 7671 and fit the surge protection that stands between a lightning transient or a grid spike and your inverters and switchgear. It protects the asset and the building it feeds, and it is built into the base design on every install.
Our Qualifying Supervisor, a fully AM2-trained electrician, personally reviews the install report on every job before commissioning sign-off: photos, test certificates, torque-check log and commissioning data, all filed and checked. We are an engineering company first, so the installer never signs themselves off.
How the team engineers rooftop solar for a football stadium, matching a large venue roof to an event-driven match-day load. A representative example of the team’s stadium work.
Read the case studyA representative large flat-roof distribution-centre array designed to a daytime logistics load, using half-hourly modelling, an in-house drone survey and an export-limited G99 design to maximise self-consumption.
Read the case studyTell us about your building and your electricity use. We will arrange a survey and come back with bankable numbers and three funding routes.
