Sheltered accommodation block in Lancaster undergoes solar revolution

A sheltered accommodation block in Lancaster is now benefiting from renewable heat and electricity thanks to a combination of solar photovoltaic and solar thermal panels.

Herbert T Forrest & Johnnie Johnson Housing approached SOLFEX energy systems to design a bespoke solar thermal system for Derwent Court as well as a solar photovoltaic array to fully harness the power of the sun.

For the solar thermal system, SOLFEX retained the original water plant and installed an 800 litre unvented pre-heat storage cylinder to feed the existing ACV unit. On the roof, 18m² of SOLFEX CPC INOX vacuum tube collectors were installed. It is estimated that the system will provide up to 30 percent of the annual domestic hot water requirement of the entire sheltered accommodation block – saving around 2.25 tonnes of CO₂ every year.

 Importantly, Derwent Court can expect to earn around £665.50 per year from the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

Due to space constraints, two separate solar PV arrays had to be installed across the Court’s sout-facing roofs. The arrays, totalling 35kWp are expected to generate in excess of 33,523kWh of electricity every year.

Simon Wardle, National Sales Manager for SOLFEX commented: “This was a great project to be involved in, which combined both solar thermal and PV technologies, we have great experience in larger scale solar thermal systems and we have completed several sheltered accommodation blocks over the last 12 months, hopefully with the RHI this will be the start of things to come.”

Sally-Anne Smith, Marketing & Communications Manager for Herbert T Forrest commented: “Forrest prides itself on delivering the highest quality service and value to Clients.  Bringing knowledge, expertise and a wide range of quality products to the table, we were able to work collaboratively to devise a best value solution for Johnnie Johnson and its Residents. 

The success of the Derwent Court Project is testament to that collaborative approach and we look forward to working alongside SOLFEX energy systems on future projects.”