SG launches ECO-GEN HVO: off-grid power for remote sites, with 90% less backup carbon

SG has launched ECO-GEN HVO, an off-grid power system that lets contractors and local authorities run CCTV and highways safety equipment on sites with no mains supply, at lower cost than cabling and with 90% less carbon from backup power.

The system combines solar generation and sodium battery storage with a backup generator running on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), a recycled fuel. The benefits:

Lower cost than cabling. With no cable runs or civils works, it typically costs less than a cabled connection.

Faster, with less disruption. It arrives on site as a product, with no groundworks to plan around.

90% less carbon from backup power. Running the generator on HVO rather than diesel cuts its emissions by 90%.

Cleaner, safer battery tech. Sodium battery technology uses no lithium or cobalt, relying instead on sodium, which is abundant. That means fewer of the mining and supply-chain concerns that come with lithium. It also performs well in the cold and carries less fire risk. Together with the HVO generator, it delivers peak power on demand.

Fewer site visits. Solar yield, battery charge, fuel level and generator output are all monitored remotely. Maintenance is planned around actual use, with up to 24 months between planned visits.

Simon Waterfall, Technical Director, said: "Most sites we're asked to power don't have mains anywhere near them. Solar covers most of it, but you still need something to fall back on. That's usually how people end up back on diesel and a maintenance schedule for battery swap outs and fuel top-ups. The HVO backup gets us the same reliability without that trade-off - and because everything's monitored remotely, you're not sending someone out to check on it until there's a reason to."

ECO-GEN HVO is designed, built and delivered by P&D Specialist Services, drawing on more than 20 years of electrical contracting and off-grid power engineering. It is available to hire or buy through SG, P&D's sister company within the Torquay Group.

Ideal for:

Highways safety equipment and 24-hour CCTV, where real-time data transfer over 4G/5G matters

Remote or temporary sites with no mains connection

Any low-wattage IoT deployment needing long-term, low-maintenance power

See it at Highways UK

ECO-GEN HVO will be on display at Highways UK, NEC Birmingham, on 14th - 15th October. Visitors can see the system on stand F25 and talk to the team about powering their own remote sites.

About us:

SG (formerly Solar Gates) builds smarter, solar-powered technology for people working on and around the roads - questioning assumptions the industry has carried for decades and replacing them with equipment designed for how sites actually work now. Underneath that is a simple promise: protecting the people behind every project. The business has grown from a solar-powered barrier specialist into a full roadside technology provider covering CCTV, traffic signals, remote stop/go, fixed access control and telematics, with more than 2,500 units deployed and relationships with some 200 clients - including delivery on HS2 and work at RAF Lakenheath, Dublin Port and Heathrow. More at solargates.co.uk.