Inverness firm Cairngorm Windows has finished installing 32 solar panels at wildlife retreat in the Inner Hebrides as part of a £20,000 contract.
Workers from the firm fitted the solar panels onto the Royal Society for the Protection of Bird’s information centre on the Isle of Coll.
Cairngorm managing director David Dowling said it took a five-man team a week to finish the installation, which is aimed at reducing the centre’s carbon footprint.
Mr Dowling said Coll was the most remote location his company had worked in. The reserve’s “star species” include barnacle geese, corncrakes, lapwings and redshanks.
He said Cairngorm was handling a “surge of new enquiries” for solar panels, despite cuts to state subsidies.
Small-scale wind, hydro and solar projects are eligible for payments via the feed-in tariff system, but the UK Government recently scaled back the level of fund available.
Most interest in solar panels has come from the Central Belt, Mr Dowling said.
Cairngorm, which employs more than 100 people in the Highland Capital, recently wrapped up a £50,000 job fitting 150 panels in Ayr.
Mr Dowling said: “Some builders are now struggling to source quality solar suppliers and an Irish company has now approached us.
“Meanwhile, we are doing a couple of solar jobs every week for north and north-east customers who, despite the subsidy cut, see the long term benefit of the financial savings and the ‘green’ effect.
“Our solar division, headed by Danny Mackenzie on the electrical side and Scott Adameic on the fitting, is thus proving remarkably resilient and we see a strong forward path for that business.”