Residents to get free travel passes
The largest installation of Solarcentury’s CompleteSolarRoof has been installed on 23 new affordable, stylish and low carbon homes in Henley Way, Rotherham. A South Yorkshire Housing Association’s (SYHA) development, buyers and tenants will benefit from hot water, electricity and protection from energy price rises.
Henley Way is the result of forward thinking by SYHA combined with contributory investment from the Regional Housing Board, the Energy Saving Trust and land gifted by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, to create a development of low carbon, affordable and contemporary homes.
Every home on the development has Solarcentury’s CompleteSolarRoof system. This is a low carbon building product allowing housebuilders to use solar photovoltaics (PV) to help reduce carbon emissions by generating clean, renewable electricity in a silent and unobtrusive way.
It is a system of solar PV and solar thermal roof tiles that look like standard roof tiles. Comprising C21e (solar electric) tiles and C21t (solar thermal) titles, this type of installation generates electricity and hot water for the home.
Offering significant savings on a householder’s energy bills, the C21t tiles will generate over 60% of the hot water requirements in a typical three-bedroom home while the C21e tiles require just 8 sqm per kWp to generate 800kWh of electricity per year.
It is expected that each house will generate 2,500kWh of electricity per year, equating to a saving of 1.5 tonnes of CO2. Excess electricity is not wasted but simply exported to the national grid, which pays a small fee back to the householder – making the savings twofold.
Each home at Henley Way has an import/export electricity meter allowing householders to see how much electricity their solar PV tiles are generating, and how much excess electricity they are exporting to the national grid.
Solar technology has been combined with state of the art insulation to minimise the need for central heating, except on the coldest days. Also SYHA buyers and tenants are to receive a free bus, train and tram travel pass for their first year of occupation, to further encourage them to lead low carbon lifestyles.
SYHA architect, Craig Jackson, says: “The ‘fit and forget’ low maintenance requirements of solar PV roof tiles contribute to their simplicity, while the clean energy that is being produced is a key tool in the marketing of new homes, as householders are protected against energy price rises.”
More information: www.solarcentury.co.uk
