Solar Water Heating – Microgeneration and reducing your Carbon Footprint
Tags: Carbon Footprint, CO2, Heating, Lifestyle, microgeneration, photovoltaic modules, PV cells, Solar Panels
Since the EU announced that the UK will be required to generate 15% of its renewables by 2020, there have been plans and various initiatives from the government to mobilise both macro and micro alternatives to using energy produced by fossil fuels.
The government has already begun this by building offshore wind farms and increasing our use of bio-energy – but they also intend to encourage the domestic contribution that can be made through so-called microgeneration from homes. At the present there are around 90,000 solar water-heating systems in Britain alone; and by 2020 the government hopes to support the installation of 7m across the nation.
It is true that you can trim your carbon footprint by making minor changes to your lifestyle. It is also by no exaggeration that making even relatively small weekly carbon savings, these efforts will add up to significant amounts if enough people are able to stay committed – and heating your home is just one adjustment that can make a lifestyle less carbon intensive.
Microgeneration technologies offer small-scale solar, wind, biomass or ground source plants, as an alternative that will complement any carbon-saving efforts. In the UK we each annually emit around 10 tonnes of CO2. To avoid the worst effects of climate change, each of us on the planet needs to limit our annual emissions of CO2 to just two tonnes. And with 75% of domestic CO2 emissions coming from water and space heating, microgeneration has the potential to contribute significantly to cutting the UK's carbon emissions.
So what is microgeneration? Microgeneration or micropower is the small-scale production of energy for individual buildings or communities. Its application comes in various forms: There are two categories of solar powered technologies; PV cells (or photovoltaic modules), that are efficient in producing electricity, and solar thermal systems which provide hot water and can contribute to space heating, and currently at the commercial level are being developed to emerge modernised in the next few years.
But for the moment the Allbrite Group have made available both a Flat Plate Solar and a Vacuum Tube Solar to meet market demand. The main difference between the two being mainly aesthetic – the flat plate system can be made to appear like a set of Velux windows, whereas the vacuum tube solar water heating is less pleasing to the eye but more efficient and easier to install.
What happens when there is not enough sunlight? The solar cylinders in both heating systems work in a way where the water temperature is monitored; should it be too low there is a backup system that activates to heat the water at the top of the cylinder while the solar still contributes, pre-heating the water in the lower section of the cylinder ensuring maximum efficiency and sustainable usage.
Microgeneration not only helps to combat climate change, but it is cost-effective by modern standards. For example, solar panels can cut energy bills by up to 100 pounds per year and also be used in conjunction with other types of microgenerators to offer actual zero carbon residences. Further still, if just ¼ of all gas boilers that will be replaced between now and 2020 are exchanged with those that can generate power, the capacity this will bring is the same as just under half of that which is provided by today’s nuclear power stations.
But there are even wider benefits from the use of microgenerational systems, that being, the catalyst for cultural change. Many consumers of a solar heating system have seen their awareness and capability for working alternatives permeate through their daily routine and would recommend the change to any lifestyle.
