Knowledge: Solar PV
On the social
Colin Calder, CEO and founder of PassivSystems, sheds light on the rising
popularity of solar PV in social housing
ur existence can be traced to the
power of the Sun. Every ancient
culture had a god in its honour,
in the hope of appeasing this
unexplainable mass. However,
it is only recently that we have been able to
successfully harvest energy from the Sun, and
it is this potential which PassivSystems is
working towards harnessing, in conjunction
with social housing providers.
Those living in social housing around
the UK are some of the most at risk families
for fuel poverty, regularly having to choose
between a cold house or food on the table.
Clearly this is unacceptable in the 21st
century, and something is being done. We are
increasingly seeing social housing providers
not only offering their tenants a safe place to
live, but also thinking of ever more imaginative
ways to improve quality of life.
O
Fighting poverty
Since its inception, the Feed-in Tariff has been
used to make money. By installing solar farms
around the country, firms were guaranteeing
themselves a steady, annual income. However,
in recent times, social housing providers have
funded projects to bring renewable energy
to their properties. The benefits are clear, a
single capital outlay sees solar panels fitted,
and from then on, not only do the units begin
to pay for themselves, but they provide free
electricity as well. In Stirling, it has been
calculated that every family taking part in
the scheme is saving £300 a year on their
bills, and the Council is generating £280,000
per annum. Indeed, Stirling’s scheme has
been so successful that they are investing
£4.2 million, much of which will be coming
from FiT income, into doubling the system,
allowing more residents to move away from
fuel poverty.
Benefits can be seen south of the border
as well. In Nottingham, a study undertaken
by Nottingham City Homes of its residents’
shows the benefit of solar panel use. One
happy resident adds: “The electricity used
when my wife and I were at home yesterday
cost us nothing until I turned on the TV in the
evening.”
This clearly shows the benefit of solar
power, everyone benefits, be it the fitter of the
array, or those who live in the house where
they’re situated.
Maximising production
As a company, the thing that we are most
proud to offer is peace of mind. Our PassivPro
system, which both Stirling Council and
Nottingham City Homes have installed
within their solar portfolios, allows users
to see how their units are functioning. It is
this insight into performance that can turn
an underperforming array into a profitable
system. With its market leading weather
tracking, alarm utility, and FiT tracking and
reporting, PassivPro is the perfect tool for
social housing providers.
Looking to the future, I see the market
for solar panels expanding exponentially, as
the price of the units comes down and we see
consumers struggling with exorbitant utility
bills. We want to reach out to all landlords to
see the benefit that PassivPro and solar power
can bring, not only to budgets, but to residents
as well. We would like to leave the final words
to Gregor Wightman, property and private
sector housing manager for Stirling Council.
“We’re delighted with the effectiveness
of PassivPro since carrying out our first
installation in 2012,” he says.
“We see these assets as part of a virtuous
circle, our residents are saving money year
on year, the Council is generating funds, and
we are saving 1,460 tonnes of carbon a year.
The Council of today is expected to go further
for its residents and for the environment, and
with our solar PV, along with our partnership
with PassivSystems, we are doing just that.”
Golden handshake: Housing associations are
switching tenants to solar PV in their droves as
renewable energy is becoming an expectation
rather than a desirable extra, reports Colin
Calder, CEO and founder of PassivSystems
We want to reach out to all
social landlords to see the
benefit that PassivPro and
solar power can bring
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