INDUSTRY INSIGHT
decade ago, renewable energy was a fringe concept, far from the mainstream consciousness. Today, it supplies almost a quarter of the UK’s power, a figure which is only likely to increase. But, whilst the general public is increasingly buying into renewables, there is still further to go in terms of making the most of the technology available. For installers, this presents a real opportunity. As homeowners add renewable updates to their homes, they are looking for expert advice on how they can get the greatest benefit from these, and products are beginning to enter the market which installers can offer as complimentary partners to existing technologies. One of the most effective ways to raise
More power to you A
the efficiency of a home is the installation of solar PV panels. It’s been over a year since changes were made to the original Feed-in- Tariff (FiT) payment scheme, and despite fears surrounding the resulting reduction in payments, TrustMark recently reported that consumer enquiries for solar panel installers rose by 130 per cent during 2016. Currently, there are 904,089 homes in the UK with solar PV panels installed, but many of these are using only half of the total energy produced by their panels. The issue is most homes are vacant during the day, which means energy produced by the panels during sunlight hours is not used, and is instead exported back to the grid. This is far less cost- effective than using the energy within the home, because the money homeowners receive through the Feed-In-Tariff is less than what would likely be required to buy electricity from a provider.
Whilst there is currently much governmental discussion around how batteries can be used to store excess power such as this, batteries themselves can be extremely expensive, and therefore may not appeal to homeowners. An alternative solution is a specially designed hot water storage cylinder, optimised for use with PV arrays. Here, any power that is generated in addition to the household’s normal requirements will be diverted to the cylinder, rather than being sent to the grid. The water is heated to the desired temperature and controlled by a thermostat, ready for the household to use when required. Providing the cylinder has high-quality, high-performance insulation, the water will remain hot for hours. Only excess power is diverted to the cylinder – so normal household power requirements are not affected. Increasing electricity usage to more than the solar PV panels generate will obviously raise electricity bills rather than reduce them, so to avoid any draw from the grid, a ‘buffer’ of energy needs to be retained. Typically, if there is 2.2kW of export energy, a controller will divert 2kW into the cylinder’s immersion heater, leaving a 100W buffer. In a property with a PV array generating
a 2kW surplus and a 200 litre PV cylinder, after five hours the hot water temperature can potentially increase from 20˚C to 60˚C. The weather will of course affect the amount of energy produced, but PV cells don't need direct sunlight to work – they can still generate some electricity on cloudy days, so even then the water will still be pre-heated, reducing the amount of energy required to heat the cylinder.
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One of the most effective ways to raise the efficiency of a home is the installation of solar PV panels
Heatrae Sadia’s Megaflo Eco Solar PV Ready is an unvented cylinder specifically designed to harness excess electricity generated by domestic solar PV arrays
The Government has recently unveiled plans to invest in research around renewable energy storage in an effort to reduce draw from the grid during peak times. However, whilst the focus appears to be on batteries, there are other, potentially more cost-effective ways to harness excess renewable energy and lessen the pressure on the national grid. John Forster, product manager at Heatrae Sadia, tells us more
Recent research by the Hot Water Association suggested that savings of up to £130 per year can be made on electricity bills by switching from a standard electric hot water cylinder to one of these cylinders, while savings of up to £95 per year can be achieved by those using a traditional gas-fired boiler. With the latter, the Solar PV input negates the need for the boiler to switch on, or if it needs to it will be for only for a few minutes. Solar PV cylinders do not affect FiT payments
either. Where an export meter isn’t fitted (which is usually the case if the solar PV system is less than 30kWp), a ‘deemed’ usage contract will be in place – this means an export tariff is paid whether the energy is consumed or not. Heatrae Sadia’s Megaflo Eco Solar PV Ready
is an unvented cylinder specifically designed to harness excess electricity generated by domestic solar PV arrays. It’s simple for homeowners to monitor and wirelessly control the hot water system. The control unit – the Megaflo Buddy – provides a continuous record of power use and savings. There’s no need for roof work, so there’s no
scaffolding or working at height involved, and, providing the installer has a G3 certificate, there is no requirement for any additional training. The cylinder is pre-wired and just needs to be connected to a fuse spur. As homeowners look to make the most of
their renewable technologies, especially in the face of changing governmental policy, installers have a vital role to play in advising on the best products available to increase the efficiency of a household. By demonstrating expertise, and offering solutions such as PV ready cylinders, installers can capitalise on the current climate of eco-consciousness and develop a lucrative new revenue stream.
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