Chichester RFC:
a 25-year answer to a recurring committee headache.
A historic rugby club, a volunteer committee, and an energy bill that demanded a fresh negotiation every season. Here's how SEED took it off the agenda permanently.
Representative imagery. Full installation gallery available in the case study pack.
Figures shown are projections from SEED's pre-install feasibility model and are indicative only. Verified post-install performance data is published in the full case study pack on request.
A volunteer committee, a clubhouse roof, and a model that finally worked.
Like most established sports clubs, Chichester RFC's committee had spent years circling the same question: how do you reduce the clubhouse's electricity bill without raiding the capital reserves that are supposed to be funding junior rugby, the bar refurbishment, and pitch maintenance?
Three previous solar proposals had stalled — each one demanded six-figure capital outlay or long-tail performance risk that the committee couldn't, in good conscience, take on.
SEED was different on one specific point: the committee never had to write a cheque. We funded, installed and now own the system. The club pays only for the electricity it uses, at a kWh rate locked for 25 years and indexed to inflation — not to wholesale markets. Maintenance and monitoring are entirely on our side of the agreement.
A year in, the club's energy line is the most predictable item in the accounts — and the committee has reclaimed an evening per quarter previously spent comparing tariffs.
"It's the first energy decision in twenty years that we haven't had to revisit. Signed once, and the matter is closed for a generation."
- • Decision made in two committee meetings
- • Install completed outside the playing season
- • Zero impact on the club's restricted reserves
- • Live monitoring dashboard for the trustees
The four-step delivery model.
Audit
Feasibility study completed in under three weeks. Roof structural review, consumption analysis and shading model.
Approval
Committee presented with a single-page recommendation. Plain-English contract reviewed by the club's solicitor.
Install
Tier-1 panels and inverters installed by experienced commercial solar engineers — scheduled around the fixture calendar.
Live
System commissioned, monitored remotely, and onboarded to the club's online dashboard. Maintenance ongoing.
Your clubhouse, your roof, the same outcome.
Every install is bespoke — but the contractual structure that worked at Chichester RFC is available to any UK sports club that qualifies.