Turn homes into 'power stations' for energy security » Housing » 24dash.com

Turning homes into their own "power station" for electricity and heating can deliver energy security, cut bills and reduce carbon emissions, it was claimed today.

With soaring gas and electricity prices, micro-generation technology such as solar panels or wind turbines are becoming increasing popular but are still an expensive investment.

One of the main concerns raised about installing solar panels is the long "payback" time - it takes many years to recoup the money spent on the technology in savings on bills.

But solar panel supplier Solarcentury's executive chairman Jeremy Leggett said: "When you buy a car, when you buy a kitchen, you don't ask what's the payback. It's a better return on your investment than leaving it in the bank, because solar is about more than energy - it's an asset on your roof.

And he said: "What better way to be secure in your energy than turning your building into a power station for your electricity and water heating? And what better way to tackle carbon in the UK?" Including the technology in new builds costs just a small fraction - 1% to 3% - of the total spend, he added.

Two homeowners trying out the benefits of solar in new houses in London are the owner of a self-build zero-carbon house and the resident of a development where the builder included solar panels for electricity generation to meet obligations to cut emissions.

Robin Oliver moved into a development in Putney which already had photovoltaic (PV) solar tiles incorporated into the roof to provide electricity. The system sells its excess electricity to the grid, while importing power when the sun isn't shining.

Mr Oliver, who works for a housing association, said the solar PV roof - which is virtually unnoticeable - meant his electricity bills were around half what they would have been otherwise.

"With the way costs are going up for all types of energy, that's an absolute bonus.

"That's one of the big plusses for this house; that was a real selling point for us."

He added: "It gives us quite an easy green lifestyle."

Will Anderson, the author of two books on green living who designed his own eco-home in Clapham, south London, said: "If you're going to build anything at this point in the Earth's history, the design has to be environmental."

Mr Anderson said a zero-carbon house - one whose net CO2 emissions are nothing - can only be achieved by bringing energy demands down, and his house has a fifth the average home's energy requirements - through insulation, A-rated energy efficient appliances and low energy lightbulbs.

The house has PV roof to generate electricity, and a ground source heat pump to heat the water.

Its urban setting ruled out wind power and a biomass boiler that would require a steady supply of wood - and it's this kind of problem which makes micro-renewables hard to scale-up to larger developments.

"The problem with renewable energy is it's so site specific, so it's difficult to bring in a single resource across the country," Mr Anderson said.

But, he said: "If you think realistically about it, if you can do it on this kind of site, you would be able to do it anywhere."

Mr Leggett said it was "distressing" that the Government - despite its grant scheme for microgeneration and its programme to help schools become greener - wasn't promoting alternative technologies such as solar in the same way as some other European countries such as Germany.

"There's a cultural problem: many senior people in the civil service just don't think grown-ups get energy any other way than big coal or nuclear power plants, and if you have a problem, you bolt on a solution such as carbon capture and storage.

"They have no wholesale programme recognising this is a major slice in a green industrial revolution," he said.

Large-scale solar farms in sunny climates are only a few years away from "grid parity" - where the electricity costs are the same as conventional means.

But homeowners such as Mr Anderson would like to see greater support for small-scale renewables - for example feed-in tariffs which would guarantee a long term price for the energy supplied to the grid - in order to make their investment really pay.