How Solar Heating Works
Benefits of Solar Heating
Solar Heating Suitability
Solar Heating Prices
Renewable Heat Incentive
© 2003-2012 SolarEssence® | Solar PV & Solar Heating Specialists
Meet Deborah and Family in Norfolk
Type of installation: Solar PV, 1.6kWp, 11.82m² array
When Deborah Sacks, 46, relocated to rural Norfolk with her husband Mike to start
a family she was looking for a calmer pace of life after having lived in central
London. “We downshifted I suppose with the kids and you don’t have time to be rushing
around or working 12-hour days, you need to be there,” explains Deborah of the move
to the country. “We’re about seven miles from Norwich here and it’s a lovely village,
the school is within easy walking distance.” 
Joseph, now 9, and 7-year-old Nicky, adore the country life and with a meadow-like garden to explore they are growing up to appreciate the natural environment around them. With a growing menagerie of family pets to look after, including a prized hen, the children are very mindful of eco-friendly practices and are excited to have their own electricity generation plant at home with the solar PV installation.
Working in waste management, Deborah is something of an environmentalist herself and is eager to practice what she preaches when it comes to reducing her carbon footprint. The three-bedroom home is a former rectory and also features a separate studio, which houses the 1.6kWp solar PV panel arrangement. “I’d been thinking about what to do in terms of energy efficiency, partly to save money but really because I believe in it and am worried about climate change,” she says. “We had the loft insulated and we thought about replacing all the windows but in practice that’s incredibly expensive.”
After considering solar thermal for hot water and other green technologies, Deborah decided solar PV was the sensible option as it came with guaranteed payback due to the Feed-In Tariff scheme. The panels were installed in January 2011 and things are already looking promising.
“I’m expecting to get around £600 a year back which is around a 6% return on the investment,” she states. “The installation cost around £10k and I wouldn’t be getting that kind of return with the money in the bank, that’s for sure. On that level it is definitely a good way of investing your money if it is just sat in the bank.”
*Estimated CO2 Saving is based upon 0.529 kg CO2/kWh (kg/yr)
At a glance: the facts and figures for a modern wooden farmhouse annexe
Date of installation January 2011 Annual SAP 2009 calculation:
System size 1.6 kWp
Panel array 45°, S facing roof
Est. CO2 saving* 570.95 kg/yr
Est. total yearly benefit £ 570.41
1079 kWh
per annum
