Investment company Atrato Onsite Energy plc has taken a £6.6 million stake in a 6MW rooftop solar system. The rooftop array is at a Marks & Spencer warehouse in Leicestershire that was the biggest rooftop solar system in the UK at the time of installation in 2015.

Atrato invests in and installs behind-the-meter solar energy generation systems – predominantly located on the roofs of commercial buildings. These are commercialised through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs). Last year it raised £150 million in an oversubscribed IPO.
The 84,000m2 array gives M&S long-term, fixed price electricity “at a significant discount to the price of electricity purchased from the grid” and is designed to to make the fully automated distribution centre close to self-sufficient during daylight hours. It generates 5 GWh/yr.