Knowledge: Solar thermal Broadcast news Scottish community building Radio City has installed 240 Kingspan <strong>Renewable</strong>s solar thermal vacuum tubes to meet its extensive hot water needs, whilst becoming a model of sustainability in the town of Kilbirnie, Ayrshire nce a former art deco cinema, Radio City provides muchneeded facilities for locals, including a gym, radio station, café, IT, office spaces and beauty rooms. The 25m2 O installation of HP200 Thermomax solar thermal tubes was part of a large retrofit project to cut carbon emissions and running costs, which also included fitting solar PV panels to service the building’s electricity. Thermomax tubes were specified to feed into a pre-heat system to help meet up to 70 per cent of the annual hot water needs of the listed multi-use building, including showers and sinks in the gym area. The solar thermal installation is expected to contribute 12.98MWh to the building’s hot water system annually and help Radio City avoid more than 3,500kg of carbon emissions each year. Exposing solar thermal The Plumb Center’s Simon Allan argues why now is the time for solar thermal to move out of the shadow of its more conspicuous sister technology he recent review of the Feed- T in Tariff (FiT) for photovoltaic (PV) seems to have somewhat overshadowed the huge potential of solar thermal. For many applications, solar water heating will not bring in money that helps recoup initial costs, although it does offer long term reductions in energy usage and is a relatively straightforward measure that can often be retrofitted with an existing heating system. For those who doubt the efficacy of such systems, a recent report by the <strong>Energy</strong> Saving Trust (EST), based on field trial data, showed that solar thermal can realistically provide up to 60 per cent of a household’s hot water requirements. 80 | www.renewableenergyinstaller.co.uk Planning regulations The tubes were specified and fitted by Glendevon <strong>Energy</strong>, Kinross-based suppliers and installers of solar thermal, solar PV, biomass and heat pump technologies. A key concern for sales director, Jamie Adams, was meeting strict planning regulations in place for work on listed buildings. He said: “It was a specific planning requirement that the solar thermal collectors did not impact on the view of the building from key vantage points, so we needed to find a solution that would effectively meet the hot water needs of the building without damaging its appearance. “We chose Thermomax vacuum tubes because the smaller surface area of their manifolds make them much less obtrusive than competing products, yet they still deliver optimum performance – even in wet and Solar thermal qualifies for support under the <strong>Renewable</strong> Heat Premium Payment (RHPP) and accounts for 32 per cent of the £3 million pounds worth of vouchers that have been issued. However, less than half of those vouchers have been redeemed to date, which means there is still plenty of scope for householders to save £300 on approved products until the scheme ends on 31 <strong>Mar</strong>ch <strong>2012</strong>. Beyond that, it is hoped that the second phase of RHI and eventually the Green Deal will continue similar funding for domestic installations. Meanwhile, RHI already offers a metred 8.5p / kWh for solar thermal in commercial or public sector buildings. An array of different approved products is already on the market, incorporating windy weather. They provided the ultimate solution we were looking for, integrating discreetly with the look of the Radio City building whilst offering the highest level of efficiency needed to meet its demanding hot water requirements.” Making music: Radio City’s new solar thermal vacuum tubes from Kingspan <strong>Renewable</strong>s have proved suucessful evacuated tubes and on-roof or in-roof flat plate collectors, with prices that will suit a variety of budgets. There are even systems that work alongside a combination boiler, so an even broader range of applications is covered. For those who don’t relish the idea of working at heights, Plumb Center offers a fixed price solar panel installation service through specialist roofing contractor Ploughcroft. All in all, the outlook for solar thermal is very positive – especially as 2010 figures indicate that the market grew by an unexpected 18 per cent. So while PV might continue to dominate the headlines, let’s not forget about other ways of harnessing the sun’s energy.
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