Genie Insights and RS Connect Complete 2,500+ Commercial Vehicle Solar Retrofits

Overview

Genie Insights and RS Connect have completed more than 2,500 solar retrofit installations across commercial vehicle fleets in the UK, including large-scale deployments with Centrica and Network Rail.

Genie Insights works with a range of installation partners depending on the customer, vehicle and type of deployment. On new vehicle builds, solar is typically integrated by the bodybuilder or van converter before the vehicle enters service. Where vehicles are already operational, RS Connect is Genie Insights’ preferred partner for nationwide retrofit installations.

With a UK-wide network of more than 100 trained electrical engineers, RS Connect acts as an extension of Genie Insights’ installation operation, providing the capacity to manage anything from individual vehicle installations to fleet-wide retrofit projects.

The partnership combines Genie Insights’ commercial vehicle solar technology and application knowledge with RS Connect’s nationwide installation capability.

Partner: RS Connect

Application: Commercial vehicle solar retrofit

Deployment: 2,500+ installations

Fleets: HGV and LCV vehicle operators

Installation network: 100+ trained electrical engineers

Capability: Single vehicles through to nationwide fleet deployments

The Challenge

Commercial vehicle fleets can adopt solar at different points in the vehicle lifecycle.

On new vehicle builds, the installation can usually be incorporated into the vehicle conversion, with the bodybuilder or van converter fitting the solar system before the vehicle enters service.

Retrofit presents a different challenge. Vehicles may already be operating across multiple depots, teams and geographic locations, making it impractical to bring an entire fleet back to a central facility for installation.

Genie Insights therefore needed a retrofit partner with nationwide coverage, sufficient engineering capacity and the ability to work consistently across different vehicle makes, models and operating locations.

The Solution

RS Connect is Genie Insights’ preferred installation partner for nationwide commercial vehicle solar retrofit.

Its network of more than 100 electrical engineers provides coverage across the UK. While RS Connect’s wider expertise includes telematics, camera systems and vehicle electrical installations, its engineers receive specialist training to install Genie Insights solar solutions.

This allows retrofit activity to be organised around where vehicles are operating, rather than requiring vehicles to travel to a central installation facility.

This gives Genie Insights the capacity to manage retrofit requirements ranging from an individual vehicle to national projects involving hundreds of installations. The partnership has been used across major fleet deployments, contributing to more than 2,500 completed solar installations.

The size and geographic spread of the RS Connect engineering network means installations can be organised around where fleet vehicles are located rather than requiring vehicles to travel to a central installation facility.

This model also allows installation capacity to be scaled according to the project, from a small number of vehicles through to nationwide deployment activity involving hundreds of installations.

John Corfield, Managing Director at RS Connect, said:

“Together we’ve developed installation processes that allow customers to implement solar retrofit programmes efficiently and consistently, whether that’s a handful of vehicles or a major nationwide roll out.”

Building a Repeatable Retrofit Process

The relationship extends into the technical and operational planning behind each deployment.

Genie Insights and RS Connect work together to develop installation procedures for new vehicle makes and models where an existing fitting method cannot be used.

Installation guides document the agreed process, while quality control procedures are used to maintain installation standards across engineers and locations.

This creates a repeatable method that can be rolled out across a fleet once the installation approach for a particular vehicle has been established.

Laura Reeve, Commercial Director at Genie Insights, said:

“RS Connect is a genuine extension of the Genie team. Their engineers represent our brand on customer sites every day, so having a partner that shares our standards around quality, professionalism and customer service is incredibly important.”

The Outcome

More than 2,500 completed installations have established a delivery model that Genie Insights can apply to commercial vehicle fleets requiring solar retrofit at scale.

The partnership provides:

• Access to more than 100 trained electrical engineers across the UK
• Documented installation processes for different vehicle configurations
• Capacity to scale installation activity around fleet requirements
• Experience of coordinating large deployments across operational fleets

It also forms part of a wider installation model. New vehicles can have solar integrated during the build or conversion process, while existing fleets can access a nationwide retrofit service through RS Connect.

This means the installation route can be matched to how the customer purchases and operates its vehicles rather than requiring every project to follow the same model.

About RS Connect