Elephant Boatyard
Another star of the Eastleigh business community is the Elephant Boatyard in Bursledon which takes its name from Nelson’s Battle of Copenhagen flagship, HMS Elephant, built on the site in 1786. It has been a working boatyard ever since and is one of the last remaining traditional boat builders on the South Coast. Their team of master craftsmen specialises in building and restoring yachts to individual specifications, combining traditional boatbuilding techniques with expertise in new and innovative technologies.
The Additional Restrictions Grant awarded by EBC was matched by funding from Greentech South and contributed to a substantial solar array on the roof of the main boat shed, sufficient to generate 41kWp
Jess Armstrong, on behalf of the boatyard, is delighted with the installation. In February 2023, she said:
“We have checked our meter readings for the last 3 months and have used 11% less units than for the same period last year. This doesn’t take into account the impact of the Tesla Powerwall battery which was installed mid Jan. They are also the 3 darkest / least sunniest months of the year, so we are hoping that in a full year we will save up to 25% of our annual electricity consumption.”