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Retired finance professional Gordon Bing and wife Patricia put any fiscal motives
aside when they chose a 3.04kWp solar PV installation, focusing instead on reducing
their carbon footprint and making their home energy efficient.
“My main purpose was to try to be a bit more independent and to use what we’ve already got available in the world to generate energy,” starts Gordon. “Just reading up about it I realised that energy prices are going up all the time and it’s a very good deal with 25 years guaranteed payback. I suppose with hindsight, it is a very good earner but that wasn’t our main motive at all.”
When the couple bought their 1950s Georgian-style Suffolk home 16 years ago, they prioritised energy efficiency and had the walls insulated as well as adding to the existing loft insulation. Replacement double-glazed sash windows and a new boiler were also an addition to help conserve energy in
the home. In more recent years, Gordon looked to solar-powered technology to assist with water heating and was keen to embrace the PV concept after reaping the rewards of the solar thermal panels installed three years ago.
“We put the PV in at the end of January this year, in the pouring rain!” explains Gordon. “I put a meter reading in at the end of March and in that brief winter period, I received a cheque for £95. The meter reading was 230 and now it’s 1400 in just a few months. I think next time there’ll be a
cheque for £400-500 coming our way.”
The 16-panel array is a sizeable addition to the tiled roof but Gordon isn’t worried about the set-up causing any problems for future resale – quite the opposite. “I also think if you’ve got everything already on board it can help if you come to sell,” he says. “Electricity prices aren’t going to go down in the future so I wanted to get it done as soon as possible.”
“The driving factor in all of this was about doing something for the environment,” he nods. “In 2010, we got a council report saying how we could save an additional £100 on our carbon footprint by getting a new boiler. Ours was working fine and I just thought ‘what is the carbon footprint of building a new boiler?’ They don’t tell you that part.”
*Estimated CO2 Saving is based upon 0.529 kg CO2/kWh (kg/yr)
Meet Mr & Mrs Bing in Suffolk
Type of installation: Solar PV, 3.04kWp, 23.94m² array
At a glance: the facts and figures for a Georgian 1950’s detached home
Date of installation January 2011 Annual SAP 2009 calculation:
System size 3.04 kWp
Panel array 45°, SE facing roof
Est. CO2 saving* 1282.67kg/yr
Est. total yearly benefit £ 1281.46
2424 kWh
per annum
