Installations
Installations
Hot Water Heater at Polyphant
This system was installed at a private dwelling in Polyphant. The system consists of 2 Schott vacuum tube solar collectors. The solar panel array is connected to a 1200x450mm, 160L cylinder which feeds hot water to the bungalow. Backup heating is provided by a central heating boiler and/or an immersion heater.
Solar Hot Water at St. Mabyn
This system was installed at a private dwelling in St. Mabyn, nr. Bodmin. The system consists of 2 Schott vacuum tube solar collectors. The solar panel array is connected to a 1200x450mm, 160L cylinder which feeds hot water to the bungalow. Backup heating is provided by a twin immersion heaters (economy 7 and boost).
Swimming pool heater at Lelant
This system was installed at a private dwelling in Lelant, nr. St. Ives. The system consists of 4 Schott vacuum tube solar collectors. The solar panel array is connected to a heat exchanger which then heats a private swimming pool. There is no other backup heating. In this installation, there was no building with a suitable South facing roof. We therefore constructed a timber frame for the panels on a South facing bank. The pool is located behind the hedge.
Hot Water for Showers at Trevalgan Touring Park
This system was installed at Trevalgan touring park in St. Ives. The system consists of 18 Schott vacuum tube solar collectors. The solar panel array is connected to 2 cylinders a 900L cylinder which feeds the men's and women's shower rooms and a 450L cylinder to feed the 7 family and 1 disabled shower rooms. Additional heating is provided by three Andrew's boilers which store a total of 852L of hot water but receive solar pre-heated water instead of cold whenever any water is used.
The system has since been extended to provide hot water and central heating to the adjacent cottage during the off-season. This is controlled by a diverter valve and uses a twin-coil 190L pressurised cylinder as a heat exchanger between the panels and the central heating system.
Solar Thermal and Solar Photovoltaic Tiles
This was a project by Plug Into the Sun that we were asked to collaborate on. The solar collectors are made by Solar Century and consist of individual small tiles that take the place of 4 standard roof tiles. The surrounding roof tiles are reclaimed clay tiles that match the energy generating tiles extremely well. This technique costs more than regular panels but preserves the roof line and suits properties where appearance is of prime importance.
Integrated Renewables - Nr. Launceston
This property relied almost completely on an oil fired boiler for central heating and hot water. We installed a special thermal store cylinder, an oversized solar collector array and added a back boiler to a Clearview wood burning stove. The boiler and existing radiators were then re-plumbed so the renewables can contribute to both heating and hot water. The boiler controls were then re-wired so that the boiler is automatically called but only once the renewables have been efficiently used.