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Can I Run My Catering Unit on Solar Power and Use a Painted Wood Floor?

White catering trailer with a roof-mounted solar panel at a British country show

White catering trailer with a roof-mounted solar panel at a British country show

Hi all. I read several questions and I didn't find what I'm looking for?!
My first concern is about electricity supply.
Has anyone using a portable solar power station?
I will run on electric 3 led lights and small fridge possible higher efficiency rate.
Maybe a fun extractor if necessary and maybe electric pump for water but for this I would use flasks for hot water and foot operated pump for cold water. Any suggestions?
Regarding floor I would use paint on wood and then a coating of anti slip clear paint or as I read online there are some paint antibacterial properties. Apparently from the council where I live is not acceptable. I would like to know if someone has done this job before and if can satisfy legal requirements.
Thanks to anyone who can advise me.

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Jul 21, 2026
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by: MobCater

You've asked about two very different things there, so let me take them one at a time.

On power, a portable solar power station will cope with the load you've described, but only just, and only if you size it properly. Three LED lights draw next to nothing, maybe 15 to 20 watts between them. The fridge is what will eat your battery. A small compressor fridge pulls roughly 40 to 50 watts while the compressor is actually running, and on a warm trading day it will cycle for something like a third of the hours you are open, so budget around 400 to 600 watt hours across a full day. Add an extractor fan on top of that and you want a station of at least 1000Wh to trade comfortably, because a single portable panel will not keep pace with the draw once the sun drops behind a hedge. I would go bigger than you think you need. These units hate being run flat and you lose capacity quickly if you do it repeatedly.

Your instinct on the water side is sound. Flasks for hot and a foot pump for cold takes the biggest draw out of the equation entirely, and every EHO I have dealt with has been happy with a foot operated pump as long as the water is genuinely potable and you have a dedicated hand wash basin with warm water available at all times.

The flooring is where I have to give you the answer you probably don't want. Your council is right. Painted ply, however good the coating, is not going to pass. The requirement is that floors are impervious, non-absorbent, washable and non-toxic, and painted wood fails on the first two the moment the paint chips or a seam opens up. Antibacterial paint doesn't rescue it either, because the problem is the timber underneath rather than the surface on top. What passes without argument is welded slip resistant vinyl safety flooring, the Altro or Polyflor sort, laid over your ply and coved up the wall by about 100mm so there is no right angle for grease and water to collect in. Same thinking applies to your walls, which I've covered over on this page: what to line catering trailer interior walls with.

It is not the cheapest job in the build, but it is one of the few where doing it properly the first time genuinely saves you money, because a re-floor after a failed inspection costs you the materials twice plus the trading days you lost.

Best of luck

David

Disclaimer: Food safety rules are updated from time to time. Always check the latest FSA guidance and speak to your local EHO for the most current requirements in your area.

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