Think Hire
Call Now 0330 133 2222
Search
Renewable Energy for Construction
The challenge: cutting diesel dependence on a UK construction site
The customer, a UK construction contractor, was relying on standard diesel generators to power an active site. Diesel had always done the job, but it came at a cost: constant fuel deliveries, rising running costs, and a fuel bill that only ever pointed one way. The site team wanted to change that. They set out to find a more sustainable, environmentally sympathetic and cost-effective way to power the site, one that would cut greenhouse gas emissions and fuel use significantly.
That last part mattered most. A construction site can't run on good intentions. Power tools, welfare units and site offices all need power that's there when it's needed, at the same quality as before. So the brief wasn't simply "go green". It was: replace diesel-driven power with something cleaner, without any drop in reliability or output on site.
That's a harder problem than it sounds. It's exactly the gap a genuine diesel generator alternative has to close if it's going to work on a live, moving construction site, not just in a spec sheet. For this customer, the answer needed to cut diesel fuel use on the construction site without anyone on site having to notice a difference in the power available to them.
The solution: a solar hybrid generator built for site power
Think Hire, a division of Think Energy Group, recommended a Solartainer Versatile: a relocatable solar hybrid generator that combines solar PV, advanced battery storage and a backup generator in a single unit. Instead of running a diesel engine around the clock, the Solartainer draws first on solar generation and stored battery power, switching to the backup generator automatically only when it's genuinely needed. The site gets continuous power; the diesel engine simply does far less of the work.
That hybrid switching is what makes the Solartainer a realistic diesel generator alternative rather than a compromise. The battery storage buffers demand through the day and overnight, so the site isn't waiting on sunshine to keep the lights on. And because the unit is relocatable, it can move with the project rather than being tied to one compound for its working life.
This sits within Think Hire's wider Energy-as-a-Service model: power delivered and managed as a guaranteed service, with ongoing support built in. For this site, that meant a Solartainer Versatile set up around its actual power needs, with Think Hire managing it throughout the hire.
The results: one month, measured against a standard diesel generator
Over the measurement period, from 3 August to 31 August 2026, Think Hire compared the Solartainer Versatile's actual performance on site against what an equivalent standard diesel-driven generator would have used and cost, running the same hours over the same month. The difference was substantial.
Fuel consumption fell by 96%. Operating costs, including hire and fuel together, dropped by 67%. Carbon emissions were reduced by 9.81 tonnes of CO2. And noise pollution on site fell by 97%, a change site neighbours and workers would have noticed immediately, even if it never shows up on an invoice.
Put together, those figures tell two stories. Commercially, this customer cut their power costs by two-thirds in a single month, without changing anything about what the site needed power for. Environmentally, they avoided close to 10 tonnes of CO2 in that same four-week window, while barely touching diesel at all. For a contractor working towards its own carbon and sustainability targets, that's a meaningful shift in how a site's power is delivered, built on a month of measured, comparable data rather than estimates.
The site didn't have to change how it worked to get these results. It started getting its power from a different source, at a fraction of the cost, sustainably.
9.81 Tonnes CO2 Emissions Reduced
67% Operating Cost Reduced
97% Noise Pollution Reduced
96% Fuel Consumption Reduced