Stroud District Council deploys the SOLiC 200

Published by Charlotte Heath for Earthwise Products Ltd in Housing and also in Environment

Stroud District Council is installing 100 SOLiC 200 units from Earthwise Products Ltd as part of an ongoing renewables investment.  The SOLiC 200 – an intelligent solar immersion controller - makes the most of solar PV installations by monitoring energy being fed back to the grid and diverting the viable-excess generated power  to the immersion heater circuit.

Gary Salter, Project Manager at Stroud District Council, comments, “Having invested in PV systems to help reduce fuel poverty, it became apparent that the average house only uses around 40% of the energy that the PV system produces, and that the majority of solar energy was going back to the grid. In order to minimise this amount, we started looking at ways in which our residents can use all the electricity being produced by the PV system.”

Gary concludes, “For Stroud District Council the solution is the SOLiC 200. The product is easy to install and is already benefiting our residents. It is the only product of its kind that carries a 10-year guarantee which gives me peace of mind.”

Iain McRitchie, Managing Director of Earthwise Products Ltd, comments, “Renewables have proven themselves to be a justified investment for housing associations. Reducing fuel poverty is a contributory factor in improving the standard of living for tenants in the climate of rising annual fuel bills. The SOLiC 200 helps minimise fuel bills by providing residents with free hot water.”

The SOLiC 200 is able to operate with a very low threshold to allow minimum loss to the grid. This has been achieved by the SOLiC 200 rapidly reacting to any changes in electrical production or use in the home by checking itself 20 times a second – making the SOLiC 200 one of the most efficient devices on the market.

The SOLiC 200 has been designed and constructed in the UK and complies with CE and British Standards. The unit has been engineered to last the life of a solar installation (25 years) and includes a 10-year return-to-base replacement guarantee.

More information about the SOLiC 200 is available at www.earthwiseproducts.co.uk