Solar Energy: Case Studies
Active solar water heating - Blairgowrie, Scotland
A solar water heating system was installed in a three-bedroom bungalow in Blairgowrie, Perthshire. It was installed with the aid of a grant from the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative, which contributed 30 per cent of the £2,625 total cost. In two days, four square metres of flat plate solar collectors were installed on the roof. The solar power replaces liquid petroleum gas fuel and offers an estimated annual fuel saving of £120, an annual carbon saving of 380 kilograms, and an estimated annual hot water output of 2,500–3,000 kilowatt hours.
Photovoltaic panels - Tesco Hucknall, Nottinghamshire
Hucknall in Nottinghamshire became Tesco’s first store to incorporate renewable energy with the installation of 96 solar photovoltaic (PV) roof panels on its petrol filling station. The total size of the PV system is 15kWp (kilowatt peak). It generates 12.5 megawatt hours of electricity each year, reducing its dependence on fossil fuels by 20 per cent. The PV technology has been integrated into the design of the building and is highly visible to the 3,500 customers who use the store every day. A display meter shows how much energy is generated and used.
The Solar Office - Doxford, near Sunderland
The Solar Office in the Doxford International Business Park is located near Sunderland in the north east of England. It was the first speculatively constructed office building to be built specifically to incorporate solar PV panels. The resulting solar façade is the largest ever constructed in Europe. It is one of the few such projects to adopt a holistic energy strategy. The 73-kilowatt PV system uses monocrystalline square cells. Over the first two years, the PV array has generated some 113,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year, comparable with the design prediction.