Solar

Passive Solar

Orientation and Roof Design

The long axis of the house goes east-west to provide south facing roof area.The ridge beam is offset to the north to make the south-facing roof larger than the north.

Conservatory
The conservatory is on the south side of the house to collect solar energy and has an insulated, high-thermal-mass floor to as a heat store. See conservatory page for details.

A open plan design and a double height sitting room means that solar heat from the conservatory can be distributed throughout the house.

Glazing
We have large windows and Velux windows on the South side compared to small windows on the North side of the house.

Active Solar

Solar Water Heating

We have a Suntube evacuated tube solar water heating system from Nippon Glass, Japan.
We considered AES, Thermomax, and Suntube at the time (1998). We chose Suntube because we took advantage of a bulk order that Derby housing department was making. There are new solar water heating companies around now and there have been many developments. We've found Suntube to be effective and reliable so far - but check other companies that are based closer to home. See what you can do below.

Photovoltaics

The roof was designed to have photovoltaic solar electric panels, when we can afford them!

What you can do

Install Solar Water Heating

Should provide over 50% of your hot water needs over a year (highest recorded figure was 86%!)

There are a number of ways to get solar water heating: Professional installation, Self-installation, or Self-build and installation. You don't need planning permission unless your house is a listed building.

Professional installation
The best thing to do is to phone up some of the companies and speak to them. They can take details of your house and give you a rough estimate of the cost. Beware - some companies are selling panels for over £6000! Don't buy them - they are not better than ones from other companies. You shouldn't need to pay over £3000 for a complete system with installation. The expensive companies tend to offer free surveys whereas the better ones charge for survey call outs but offer phone or postal surveys.

CAT (Centre for Alternative technology) 01654 702400 - Good advice and cheap factsheets and supplies.
Solar trade association 01908 442290 - Gives advice, has standards for its members including not allowing hard sales tactics. All companies below are members.
All companies will do reductions for groups of people buying together.

Solartwin - 01244 403 404
Flat plate collectors, fitted in a day from £2499 incl. UK delivery and 5% VAT.
Self-install kits £1599 incl. 17.5% VAT, excluding delivery.
Designed and manufactured in Britain. They have a solar-electric cell integrated into the system to provide power for the pump, and special plastic piping that doesn't need antifreeze.

AES - 01309 676911
Selectively coated flat plate collectors.
4m2 - £917 incl. 17.5%VAT and delivery, no installation.
3m2 - £752 incl. 17.5%VAT and delivery, no installation.
Straight-forward 1-story house £2047 (incl.5% VAT) includes panel, pipework, cylinder and installation.
£50 - £100 extra for 2 story house or other difficulties. Survey by telephone or letter.

Thermomax - 01443 862299
Evacuated tubes. Made in the UK. Full installation for £3500-£4200

Filsol - 01269 860979
Evacuated tubes. Installed for £2300- £2700 (incl. VAT)

Self-installation
If you are an experienced DIYer you can install a solar water heating system yourself - instructions are provided in the kits companies sell. There are also groups such as SolarClubs and SelfSol that help people with DIY installation.
North Cornwall Solar Club - 01208 893 474
Bristol Solar Club- 0117 929 9950
Solar Clubs charge £25 for a trainer plumber to look at your property. £50 for training day - you get a hand book with information on installation. £25 for an engineer to check your installation is OK afterwards. They use AES, Thermomax and Filsol panels.

SelfSol NAF (National Energy Foundation) 01908 665555

Self-build and installation
A self-built self-installed system can cost as little as £200 and even cheaper if you use a re-used radiator! But beware, with all the plumbing it can cost a lot more than this depending on your house - some people have found it not much cheaper than a professionally made DIY kit.
CAT sells clip fins which increase the collection area of pipes - General Enquiries: 01654 702400

Get PV solar cells for electricity

PV (Photovoltaic) solar cells produce electricity directly from sunlight. Solar cells are getting cheaper and more efficient all the time. If you sell electricity to the national grid when you are producing more than you need and buy it back when you're not it is possible to produce all of your electricity over a year from the sunlight falling on your roof!

Contacts:

PV-Web, the online information service of PV-UK - the British Photovoltaic Association. They have a pdf. handbook with address of local PV installers.

Cholwell Alternative Energy 01803 762 628 click to email

Solar Century 0870 735 8100

There are government grants for a few pilot schemes.

See the 'What you can do' page for a compilation from all sections.

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