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Do share
our pleasure that the Solar panels reached their target 8 weeks early.
It had been hoped that they would produce some 14,500 Kilowatt hours in a year. The figure was reached on 21st March. We have had a lot of blue sky in the winterof 2007. Many days the panels were producing some KWh90 in a day. An average home uses between 10 – 15 Kw hours of electricity a day. That means that on a really good day we were producing enough electricity to power the needs of 6 – 8 homes. Chris Littler has been keeping a daily log of electricity usage in the halls. It did show us how we were wasting electricity; and that was a great help. We guess that we have now reduced our use by at least 25%. When our new “Export meter” was fitted in the first week of January 2007, it showed that we were using far more electricity than our solar panels were producing. Not surprising! Short days, and lots of cloud. The 22nd January 2007 was the first day where we produced more than we consumed. The tables began to turn on 27th February 2007, and by 11th March 2007 we had produced more electricity than we had consumed since the beginning of the year.
The study is an interesting one. Obviously in the winter, we produce very little, with the exception of blue sky days. Remember that when it is dark the solar panels produce nothing. It is then that we are also mostly using our lighting. So the arithmetic is never straightforward.
We are also encouraging our halls users
to be thoughtful about recycling, and have provided a special bin in
the kitchen for the purposes. It also saves us money as we have fewer
big bin collections now. |
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Solar
Panels at St. Aldhelm’s – our story
The unflattering truth is that we were not thinking about panels, but excessive heat from skylights in our large hall; but some lateral thinking suggested turning a problem from the sun’s energy into an asset. There were three keys to our success. The first was the contractor. Richard Warren runs a small company called solstice energy. At 14, Gladwyn Rd SW15 1JY richard@solsticeenergy.co.uk http://www.solsticeenergy.co.uk
Richard not only made dreams come true, but also helped create the dreams in the first place. He understood (as few contractors do) that we do not have bags of money. He did much of the research, negotiations and applications for funding.
The second key to our success was the presentation of this as an educational project. We have some educational panels in the church hall which are designed to make people stop and think. How can I save energy and help to stem global warming? Some of us can install solar panels. For others it might be better recycling, or using less electricity, and cutting down waste. We could consider buying our electricity from a ‘Green’ supplier, such as “Good Energy”.
The third key was the local council. Their “Sustainability team” (since disbanded!!) backed us, and gave us a small grant of £2,500. Although a small grant, their support enabled us to get the big grants.
We were lucky; right people right time. God blessed us! Grants are bound to become available again, and in two years or so from now, the raw materials for solar panels may become much cheaper.
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A few facts:· We have 3 south facing roofs. |
