From Sun to Scoop: How Salcombe Dairy Is Powering Ice Cream with Solar
Richard from Mole Energy visits a business with beach huts and factory floors, powered by the sun.
When your business stretches from factory floors to a beachside kiosk, energy needs can get complicated. But for Salcombe Dairy, sunshine has always been good news, not just for ice cream sales, but now for solar too.
On a recent visit to their South Devon base, Mole Energy Sales Consultant Richard met the team behind this award-winning family business to see how they’re cutting carbon and staying cool… sustainably.
Sweet, Local, and Solar-Powered
Salcombe Dairy is well known across the UK for its luxurious ice cream and handcrafted chocolate. But behind the sweetness lies a serious focus on sustainability. Their operation includes a central factory site in Salcombe, a factory outlet, and a busy off-grid beach hut retail unit all with very different energy needs.
“We make everything right here in South Devon,” says one team member proudly, “but our customers are nationwide. So our setup needs to be reliable, efficient and kind to the planet.”
Flexible Energy for a Flexible Business
From powering production equipment and cold storage to keeping freezers humming on the beach, energy is non-negotiable. “They needed a solution that matched their unique footprint,” explains Richard. “That’s where Mole Energy came in.”
Salcombe Dairy wanted to reduce grid reliance and invest in clean energy without compromising performance, especially at their remote beach kiosk.
The Mole Energy Solution
At the factory, Mole Energy installed 34 Trina Vertex solar panels alongside a three-phase inverter, creating a robust renewable backbone for the core production site.
Over at the beach hut? A tailored off-grid solar system, including six solar panels and a dedicated inverter, designed to keep the freezers running and the scoops coming, even in peak summer.
Local Energy for a Sweet Future
“Having greater control over their energy means Salcombe Dairy can focus on what they do best, making delicious ice cream,” says Richard. “Lower costs, lower emissions, and more independence, it’s exactly what solar should be.”
So next time you’re enjoying a cone on a sunny Devon day, it might just be powered by the very sunshine that makes it taste so good.
Why Mole Energy?
With over 15 years of experience and a portfolio of site-specific installs across the South West, Mole Energy was the perfect partner for this project. “Salcombe Dairy needed flexibility and we delivered just that,” says Richard, smiling in a deckchair, ice cream in hand.
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