A Cleaner Generation, launched in 2014 by Paul Wheeler and Chris Pound is one of the latest growing businesses to receive funding from SWIG Finance.
The St Agnes-based business, one of the largest solar panel cleaning companies in the UK has significantly improved its productivity with the purchase of new specialist machinery. A Cleaner Generation originally cleaned solar panels locally in Cornwall and gained expertise through working with a German company. In 2016 the company cleaned over one million panels nationwide and are continuing to expand having recently invested in specially designed equipment allowing them to more effectively clean more solar panels.
The investment was made possible through a loan from Responsible Finance provider, SWIG Finance, with match funding from Business Investment for Growth 2 (BIG2) grant fund.
Using deionised water through poles with solar brush heads, the company previously conducted all of the cleaning by hand, bringing on temporary workers to help on some of the larger farms. Paul says: “We are able to clean around 25,000 by hand in a week with our current team. We recently finished a contract in Swindon which has close to 250,000 panels and we had to hire 15 temporary workers over three weeks.
“Inevitably the quality of cleaning by hand can vary so by investing in this new machinery we are going to not only be more efficient and productive but also ensure we are providing a better quality of service to our customers.”
SWIG Finance Managing Director, John Peters says: “There is a high demand for the services that A Cleaner Generation provides and they have some excellent existing contracts.
“It’s clear that this machinery really will make a big difference to their business and allow them to continue to grow and we wish Paul and Chris every success in the future.”
Find out more about funding from SWIG Finance.