bbh Articles | Joju Solar

August 13, 2021 In

Beautiful and powerful – Mike’s new build home

Our customer, Mike, originally contacted us with architects plans for a new build house. He wanted the house to be highly energy efficient… generating its own power without this negatively impacting on the character and aesthetic of his soon-to-be-built home.

Back to black

We loved working with Mike to bring this vision to life and as solar tiles weren’t widely available at the time of install, and there were technical constraints with the products too, we specified all black solar panels built into the roof.

The all black panels have a black frame, black mono crystalline cells, and a black back-sheet with a neat finish, blending particularly well with dark slate and whilst there is a slight additional cost when compared to traditional on-roof solar, savings are made by not having to install slates and tiles where the panels are located.

We worked with Mike’s main contractor and roofer to complete this solar installation and in terms of the look for Mike’s new home, the panels worked perfectly.

As Mike says,

“We selected the black panels largely for the aesthetics and, given that we were building a new house, it made no sense to put a roof covering on and then put the panels on top… may as well make the panels be the roof covering. It integrates with the house much better”.

Never a truer word, we say!

Panel power

Well, the aesthetic is certainly attractive, but what about the solar generation?

As Mike tells us,

“We can get over 30kWh on really sunny days. In 2021 to date, we have had 3253hWh. We have battery storage now too and our electricity bill is less than £50 per month, which isn’t bad for an electric only house and two electric cars”.

Not bad indeed!

A great experience

Here’s to architecture that not only looks beautiful, but that also definitely generates the power and here’s to a great solar installation experience all round. Jon, our Head of Residential Solar, led the project and as Mike says,

“It was a really good experience, easy, and Jon was great. He did what he said, when he said he would”.

We can’t say fairer than that!

Find out more

Check out some of our other residential case studies here

Discover how to get the most from your solar

What’s the best solar panel? Here’s our view

S Georges' SPorts Centre, Scott Brown Rigg, Architects

April 7, 2021 In

St George’s College Iconic Solar Sports Hall

St George’s is an independent mixed Roman Catholic co-educational day school in Weybridge Surrey. The school have recently constructed a new Sports Hall for the school as their existing sports hall was only sized for 500 students (all boys). The new sport hall now caters for over 1000 pupils (both boys and girls) over a wide range of sporting activities.

The new hall is a flagship architectural building, designed by Scott Brown Rigg Architects, with many unique design features that required careful integration of the solar PV.

The structure of the building is made from curved glulam columns and roof beams, which support a plywood deck. Above the roof sites 150mm insulation, finished with a Sika Sarnafil single-ply roof membrane. The roof is curved in two directions much like the Olympic Park velodrome, and also features diamond-shaped roof ventilation towers.

Careful Integration of Solar

As such, the design needed to account for the following sensitivities:

As a high-end architectural project, aesthetics were paramount to the client.
The installation mounting system needed to work with the curved surface of the roof.
We needed to avoid shade from the ventilation towers.
The chosen system needed to be lightweight so as not to compress the insulation, or led to puddling of water
The system needed to be non-penetrative
We needed to install sufficient solar PV to meet overall building CO2 targets.

The building carbon targets implied the building had a target of 32kWp of solar PV to generate 29,688kWh of electricity per year. To meet this brief, we installed a system of 119 JA Solar 270W modules, connected to a single Solis 30kW inverter.

Sika SSM1 mounting system

Joju Solar are the solar energy partners of Sika Sarnafil who manufactured the roof membrane system. Working closely with them and the main roofing contractors, Malone Roofing, we designed and delivered what we to believe to be a prime example of sensitive architectural integration of a commercial solar PV roof.

The chosen mounting system was the Sika Solar Mount SSM1, which offers several unique features, ideal for this project. The mounting system consists of plastic triangular frames pitched at 15 degrees. These frames use rubber fixing flaps, that sit over the frames which are then rubber-welded directly to the roof membrane. Because the frames are bonded to the roof surface, the system is ballast-free, and therefore very lightweight. This not only simplifies construction but helps from a structural engineering point of view, especially in case such as this where the span of the roof is large. It also prevents compression of the insulation layer and puddling of water on the roof.

Uniquely, the mounting system and the roof membrane itself are covered under a single point warranty. As Sam Rogan, Sika Sarnafil Technical Advisor explains: “The SikaSolar system offers a low profile panel with high output, that is fully compatible with Sarnafil single ply roofing membranes”. This avoids any potential conflict between the multiple contractors on-site, as there is a single holder of risk and responsibility.

Primarily designed for flat roofs, the SSM1 is limited to being installed on roofs of less than a 10-degree pitch. We therefore restricted our array to those unshaded areas of the roof that met this design requirement. The area chosen was such that optimisers were not required and the system could be strung on a single 30kW inverter.

As a further step to enhance the aesthetics of the installation, the DC cable routes were laid in channels cut into the insulation membrane, which were then covered with the main roofing membrane. This removed the need for an unsightly cable tray running across the roof and preserved the clean aesthetics of the building.

(Images 1&3 courtesy of Scott Brown Rigg Architects)

Find Out More

Our PV design team is on hand to help you realise the solar part of any new build project, large or small
We have even integrated a bespoke solar PV array into the roof of Salisbury Cathedral
Solar schools like St George’s are a speciality of ours – find out more about the hundreds of solar schools we’ve already built

University of Reading, solar panels, Edith Morley, sunshine, blue sky

November 23, 2018 In

Subsidy Free Solar at University of Reading

Reading University have just completed the installation of 168 kW of solar PV across their main campus, and due to a peculiarity of the site, have installed this subsidy free – that is to say without the use of any feed-in tariff support. Extensions to solar PV systems do not qualify for feed-in tariffs, and with the whole of the campus on one supply, any new PV systems do not qualify for support due to the presence of an existing array on site. That left Reading University with a choice – install PV without subsidy, or not to install at all.

Reading University did indeed install, as the economic case for them was still strong. As such, this project forms an exemplar for future commercial solar installations once the feed-in tariff is removed in April 2019.

Opportunities from re-roofing

The scheme focussed on 2 building on the main campus. The Edith Morley building is the largest building on site, and centrally located. At 124 kW, this gave good economics due to its scale, and also acted as a very public statement of the University’s drive towards a low carbon campus.

The second building – the Wager building – offered a different opportunity. The roof was being replaced, and so it made sense to install 44 kW solar PV at the same time as these other roof-works. With scaffolding typically making up 10% of the cost of a commercial solar installation, there is an immediate cost saving for running the 2 works concurrently. Again, this is a good guide for those considering solar PV projects in a subsidy free environment– cost savings from sharing scaffolding like this can offset the lack of feed-in tariff income.

Solar PV as part of a carbon reduction strategy

Reading University have an ambitious carbon reduction programme of 45% by 2021, and are already ahead of target. However, the simpler measures, typically energy efficiency, have already been carried out. By addressing the ‘low-hanging fruit’ in early years, solar PV now makes increasing sense as one of the next set of measures. It’s a very good technology for a 2^nd wave of energy retrofits, as deep carbon reductions require moving beyond energy efficiency and looking at generation technologies as well.

The Edith Morley Building, for example, gave rates of return on investment of 12% even without feed-in tariffs, which equates to an eight year payback. Reading University considered this a financially attractive option for meeting their carbon targets.

Complexity in project management

The most complex aspect of the project was coordinating the works on site. All roof works had to be completed in the summer holidays, and the PV had to follow after the re-roofing works were complete. This required careful and flexible project management in order to take advantage of the opportunity. Reading University have indicated that when they are reroofing other buildings they will look to incorporate solar at the same time.

This approach of sharing scaffolding costs across 2 pieces of roof work is something Joju Solar are very experienced at, and one we commonly use in our work on solar schools.

A subsidy free solar future

The Reading University project is an exemplar for solar PV projects operating without any form of subsidy – and where the benefits of the PV come solely from reducing the bills on site. The project provides pointers to what makes a successful solar project, namely:

All electricity is used on site – commercial buildings with high on-site usage give the best economics
There is a clear carbon reduction strategy in place across the institution
Solar PV has clear role in that strategy, becoming increasingly important once ‘low hanging fruit’ energy efficiency measures have been carried out
There are opportunities re-roofing to improve economic case
Public space, where a clear statement about green activities can be projected.

Glenn gets Fully Charged

Glenn Tweedie’s decision to get a Tesla Powerwall and solar PV has led to both energy savings and TV fame!

Background

When Glenn Tweedie decided to have a solar PV array and a Tesla Powerwall installed on his family home in St Albans he probably hoped and expected that it would lead to energy savings for him and his family. What Glenn didn’t plan for was that the installation would lead to internet stardom and a starring role in Robert Llewelyn’s internet show Fully Charged.

The episode of the show which featured Glenn and his family was filmed a few weeks after Joju installed the system, which included our first ever Tesla Powerwall installation in May 2016.

The Solution

In the Fully Charged episode Glenn talks to Robert Llewellyn about the benefits the Tesla Powerwall has brought to his family and just how much it has lowered their energy consumption from the grid. Indeed, on the day of filming 97% of Glenn’s Family’s energy had come from energy stored in the battery and produced by the solar PV. With only 3% being drawn from the grid thanks to both the 4.5kWp solar array and the Tesla Powerwall working in perfect harmony. Thanks to the SolarEdge PV monitoring platform Glenn and his family can monitor their energy usage via a smart app on their phones and laptops, which has enabled him to show his two sons just how much energy they are wasting when they forget to turn off lights and Playstations.

Getting Fully Charged

The video demonstrates perfectly the benefits of when a solar PV array is installed in sync with a home battery storage solution. The energy savings, the improved family education on energy usage, and even the status that come with having such a complete home energy solution are all highlighted and discussed in depth in the episode.

Watch the film Fully Charged Episode here

Marks and Spencer – Community Energy Scheme

Background

Historically, community energy initiatives have fallen into two categories, depending on where they draw their members from. Investors come from either the local area where the project is located or where the community is geographically scattered are made up of people with a shared passion. However, we’re proud to have helped M&S develop a new type of community energy scheme – where a corporate institution engages the community energy approach to finance renewable schemes.

April 5, 2016 In

Reading Borough Council

Reading Borough Council takes a lead on solar PV.

Reading Borough Council was one of the first UK local authorities to spot the opportunity of solar energy when they installed solar photovoltaic systems on 43 public buildings back in 2011

Once Reading Borough Council had proved that solar PV could work on their corporate buildings, the next step was to look at their social housing stock. Could they make an investment that would produce an acceptable rate of return, reduce fuel poverty and cut the council’s carbon footprint?

Careful design

As genuine solar experts, Joju Solar understood that getting the most from Reading’s investment meant carrying out an accurate assessment of roofs; finding the right balance of fixed and variable costs when deciding system size; and selecting the right components to secure the best system for the price.

Joju Solar conducted a full desktop survey of all potential properties, identifying the 450 roofs most suitable for the systems. The final proposal comprised nearly 7,000 panels with a total generation capacity of 1.67 MWp – equivalent to powering 720,000 smartphones for an entire year.

Happy Tenants

Joju Solar had considerable experience of tenant liaison, developed during previous social housing contracts, and worked closely with the council to generate awareness and enthusiasm for the project. Both partners knew that, to have the greatest impact, tenants had to understand what was going on and appreciate the benefits that they stood to gain.

Cllr Richard Davies, Reading’s Lead Member for Housing, said: “We worked very hard to select the houses according to their suitability for solar panels, but in fact all tenants benefited from the project because those whose homes did not fit the criteria were provided with help to find other ways to reduce their energy consumption and their fuel bills.”

Smooth Installation

Using installation teams and project managers with experience from previous social housing projects, Joju set about installing 450 PV systems in three months.

Solar PV – a quadruple win

The Reading project has attracted positive coverage in the local press. Joju Solar Founder and Commercial Director, Joe Michaels, is delighted: “Solar PV is a quadruple win for social housing landlords like Reading,” he says. “It provides a guaranteed financial return, an extension on roofing life, assistance with fuel poverty targets, and carbon savings.”

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