Considering PVs for your roof?

If you are fairly local to West Bridgford and are considering PV panels for your roof, why not join a group of would-be PV owners who are getting together to research, and possibly buy, PVs as a group?

This first meeting is for buyers (not for companies who install PV) to get together. Independent expert David Nicholson-Cole of Rushcliffe Solar will be there to provide independent advice on whether your roof is suitable for PV, and how much electricity it might be able to generate.

Just come along to Belle and Jerome in West Bridgford at 7.30pm on Monday 12th September 2011 (we'll be upstairs).

If you are interested but can't make this date, or have any other questions, just email info@wbecohouses.co.uk for more information.

Eco House Group at the Melton Road Christmas Fair

Sunday 5th December, we shall be at the Melton Road Christmas Fair from noon until 4pm
We can be found in the Celebrations shop together with members of Rushcliffe Solar and the Skills Exchange. We shall have a raffle with 3 prizes: A Solar Security Light, A TV powerdown and a Solar trickle charger. All the proceeds will go to Transition West Bridgford to support current and future initiatives.

Post Event Report: Yes, we were there, but somewhat hidden at the back of the shop - and there were musical and filming events between us and the door! However, it was an extremely cold day, and we were glad to be indoors with a good supply of mulled wine only a couple of doors away at the Tall Frog.Our stand was a combination of Rushcliffe Solar, WB Ecohouses and WB Transition.

Mini event on renewables

For anyone who missed the recent event on Renewables, or for anyone who has further questions, there will be a “mini event” at the Test Match Pub on Friday 3rd December at 7.30pm. All are welcome, feel free to bring friends along too.

If you can give me an idea of which renewable(s) interest you, it would be handy (info@wbecohouses.co.uk). There will be at least one installer present and he has expertise in all realistic options for houses.

Interview with Jenny Johnston

Installation of PV panels in September 2010.

Jenny has been along to a few Eco House Group events and has recently installed photovoltaic panels (PV) on her roof. Tina Holt asked her a few questions:

When did you start considering putting PV panels on your roof?
I first considered putting PV panels on my roof when I heard about Rushcliffe Solar via Transition West Bridgford. I had considered solar panels for heating hot water previously but decided the amount of hot water I used did not make it worthwhile.

What was your main motive for installing PV?
My main motive was to lower my carbon footprint but also think it is a good investment as I will gain tax free income equivalent to any rate of interest available at the moment and it should increase the value of my bungalow if I need to sell.

How did you get the information that you needed? Who did you talk to, etc?
I received most of my information from the Rushcliffe Solar team.

What made you choose EvoEnergy?
EvoEnergy was one of the companies Rushcliffe Solar approached for a quotation for me. They seemed to offer the best value for money for the number of panels appropriate for my roof.

When was the install and how long did it take?
Monday 27 September - Scaffolding erected
Tuesday 28 Panels fitted to roof and main electrical work carried out

Ken Clarke visits Jenny's house,
as an example of a PV installation
19th Nov 2010.

Wednesday 29 Electrician returned for less than hour and put installation into commission and explained everything to me
Thursday 30 Scaffolding removed

How did you find it in terms of disruption etc?
There was no disruption to speak of. The only internal work was in my roofspace. The electrician ran cables from panels to inverter etc in the garage via the loft area so no cables visible from outside.

What would you say to someone else considering doing the same thing?
“Go for it” The initial outlay is high but I am hoping both the environmental and financial rewards will also be high.

Choosing PV Panels

2 Oct '10: We get quite a lot of questions about 'Which panels to use' - this is difficult to answer, as it takes 25 years of living with them to know if a class of panels is truly successful, and what the replacement percentage may have been in that time. Some panels are tested merely by quick 'Flash' tests, and that says nothing for the 25 year  reliability of the panel or the responsiveness of the manufacturer to technical queries or claims.
  David Hill of Carbon Legacy has written a long and detailed article on Rushcliffe Solar site about some of these questions.  http://rushcliffesolar.blogspot.com/p/panel-details.html

Seminar at the Environment Agency

25 Aug: DNC writes: I was invited to talk at a lunchtime seminar for staff at Nottingham's Environment Agency Office. These are for topics linked to Climate Change and Energy shortage. I had only about 25 mins, but covered four subjects.

• First the West Bridgford Transition group and WB Ecohouses group, and the importance for activists of communicating the message widely, not just doing things privately.
• The Rushcliffe Solar campaign, to encourage people to take up Photovoltaic panels, to increase the home generation of electricity in Rushcliffe, and for them to benefit from the feed in tariff.
• The Charging the Earth project, building Sunboxes to augment the performance of the ground source heat pump - appropriate because at this very moment, my research poster on the sunboxes are on view at the SET conference in Shanghai.
• The Sustainable Tall Buildings course at Nottingham University - where we are trying to teach our students bioclimatic principles for tall buildings - our next project is based in New York, trying to apply Passivhaus principles to the units in a 60 storey structure. 

I was sharing the floor with Penny Poyzer, the owner of the West Bridgford Ecohouse in Patrick Rd. Compared to my technology oriented topics, she was talking about the virtue of growing your own food, plus many observations on green lifestyle. A major learning point from her house is that you can apply extreme levels of insulation to a 120 year old house, and make it airtight enough for heat reclaim to work.
   As a nice human touch, we could see out of the window that the staff in the Environment Agency are indeed growing their own, there was a well managed cuban-style micro farm with members of staff having their own little 2 sqm patch, full of healthy looking vegetables.

We are in the news!

Yesterday Rushcliffe Solar and Transition West Bridgford were featured in the Nottingham Evening Post.

"Recently, Transition West Bridgford organised the West Bridgford Eco House tour, (wbecohouses.co.uk), where some local home-owners, who already use alternative technologies, opened their doors to thegeneral public to give them a chance ... to read the whole article click here:

Need for leafletting volunteers

The Rushcliffe Solar project is well underway with hundreds of homes in West Bridgford having been identified as suitable for home power generation on their roofs. The project is focused on raising awareness about the benefits of Solar Photovoltaic panels on houses, both for reducing our dependence on fossil fuel based powerstations, and for the financial benefits to householders.

Leafleting of these homes is currently being carried out by members of the Rushcliffe Solar team in parts of West Bridgford. Other areas will be leafleted in due course by members of Transition West Bridgford.

The next Rushcliffe Solar surgery will take place on Saturday 21 August outside Belle and Jerome Bistro on Central Avenue, West Bridgford between 10am -1pm.

Please email RushcliffeSolar@gmail.com if there is a chance you can help with leaflet delivery.

For more information go to http://www.rushcliffesolar.blogspot.com

More about "Getting it for Free"

There is an an article on the Rushcliffe Solar website enlarging on the pros and cons of the free photovoltaic installation. 

The 'pro' sounds pretty obvious, but what at the 'cons'?.... and is the 'pro' worth having? Is there such a thing as a free lunch?

The article can be read by linking to the Rushcliffe Solar website 

Rushcliffe Solar takes off!

Do you want free energy for the next 25 years?? This could be time for a rapid piece of 'Ecovation' to your house that could be the best investment that you can currently make - in excess of 8% - capable of meeting your electric and gas bills combined, plus additional income. One single house can generate over 3 megawatt-hours per annum.

Starting July, there is a project in Rushcliffe to encourage householders to fit Photovoltaic roofs! It's a partnership project of Rushcliffe BC, West Bridgford Transition, University of Nottingham, and Energy Saving Trust. Please check out the website as it progresses. Let's make West Bridgford into a 'swarm' of home power generators, collectively equal to a powerstation!

For the month of July and August only, we have two senior architectural students doing mapping surveys of West Bridgford, estimating the potential for home generation, and giving free advice to householders of the costs and payback. Please make use of this! (It's primarily by email). We shall also have open air 'Solar Surgeries' on Central avenue on several Saturdays during the summer months.

Email rushcliffesolar@gmail.com advising them off your Postal Code and Housenumber, and any other relevant details such as trees, slope, boundary conditions, shared ownership, for a rapid estimate of the possibilities. If your house has changed since Googlemaps aerial photos were taken, please include that. If the house doesn't have a number, please describe it, eg, 'the converted boathouse next to the pub'.