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Craigavon Area Hospital
Solmatix Renewables partnered with the Southern Health and Social Care Trust to deliver a major solar PV installation across the Craigavon Area Hospital estate in Northern Ireland. Completed in 2025, the project provides 1,252.955kWp of installed renewable generation capacity and supports the Trust’s wider ambitions to reduce carbon emissions, manage energy costs and strengthen the long-term sustainability of essential public infrastructure.
The scale of the scheme is significant. A total of 2,071 LONGi 605W solar modules were installed across 23 roof locations, grouped across 14 operational areas including the main hospital block, paediatric unit, Macmillan Building, Trust Headquarters, ambulance facilities, energy centre, laundry block and other buildings across the estate.
Additional Information
Craigavon Area Hospital is a busy, 24-hour healthcare environment with a large and consistent electricity demand. Delivering a renewable energy project of this size meant coordinating work across numerous occupied buildings, roof types and electrical connection points while protecting patient care, staff access and the continuity of critical hospital services.
The system also had to operate as one connected estate-wide solution. This required extensive electrical integration, G99 grid compliance, export management and a communications network capable of bringing data from multiple inverter clusters into a central monitoring platform.
Solmatix designed and delivered a phased multi-roof solar PV system using SMA commercial string inverter technology, SMA Data Managers and the SMA ennexOS energy management platform. Renusol and K2 mounting systems were selected to suit the requirements of the different roof areas.
A site-wide fibre communications backbone links the solar arrays, remote terminal units and monitoring infrastructure. The integrated SCADA and building management system interface gives the Trust central visibility of generation and system performance, supporting real-time monitoring, fault identification and more informed energy management.
Careful programming and stakeholder coordination were central to delivery. Works were planned around the operational requirements of a live hospital estate, with installation activity phased across the different buildings and coordinated with the Trust and its project partners. This approach allowed a complex infrastructure project to progress while healthcare services remained operational.
The completed system gives Craigavon Area Hospital one of Northern Ireland’s largest healthcare solar PV installations. The hospital’s sustained daytime demand means a high proportion of the renewable electricity can be used directly on site, reducing reliance on grid electricity during generating hours.
The installation is estimated to save approximately 230 tonnes of CO₂ annually, based on an estimated annual yield of 1,064,000kWh and the supplied NIE carbon emissions factor of 0.222kg CO₂ per kWh. Alongside the environmental benefit, the system improves visibility of energy generation and performance across the estate and provides a scalable foundation for the Trust’s longer-term decarbonisation programme.
The project demonstrates that large, operationally complex public sector estates can adopt renewable energy at scale without compromising the delivery of essential services. Its combination of distributed rooftop generation, central communications and intelligent monitoring provide a strong model for future healthcare decarbonisation projects.
Project specification
- 1,252.955kWp total installed capacity
- 2,071 LONGi 605W solar modules
- 23 roof locations across 14 operational areas
- SMA commercial string inverters and Data Managers
- SMA ennexOS energy management platform
- Renusol and K2 mounting systems
- Site-wide fibre communications network
- Integrated SCADA monitoring and building management system interface
- G99 grid compliance and export management infrastructure
- Estimated annual CO₂ saving of approximately 230 tonnes
