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  • HPH189 : Is an electric car the perfect accompaniment for a low energy home? – with Robert Llewellyn from Fully Charged

    HPH189 : Is an electric car the perfect accompaniment for a low energy home? – with Robert Llewellyn from Fully Charged

    Actor and TV presenter Robert Llewellyn shares his insights about the future of electric cars and energy production.

    Image source: www.fullychargedshow.co.uk

    Interview with Robert Llewellyn

    Robert Llewellyn is an actor and TV presenter, perhaps best known for his role as Kryten on Red Dwarf. His Internet project Fully Charged discusses electric vehicles and renewable energy and is expanding beyond its origins on YouTube.

    From petrol-head to EV enthusiast

    Robert confesses that he once loved cars with big petrol engines. He experienced his first ride in a Prius back in 2001, but it took time to reconsider what he was interested in and, by default, promoting. He got his first electric vehicle (EV) in 2009.

    He acknowledges there have been teething problems along the way – the lack of a charging infrastructure initially didn’t help – and comments that well-funded propaganda from the fossil fuel industry has attempted to hold back development.

    However, Robert describes the current global car market as being at its peak in terms of the internal combustion engine, and says the wider transition to electric vehicles is finally gathering pace. Eventually, as with asbestos, tobacco, catalytic converters and leaded petrol, the corporations will change. For now, Renault, Nissan and Tesla are leading the way.

    Electric vehicles are part of a bigger revolution

    By thinking of an electric car as a battery and computer on wheels, Robert can see even bigger change ahead in the form of vehicle automation. Having experienced the fully autonomous Nissan Leaf, Robert says “When you go in it, you go ‘alright, fair enough. This stuff works.’” The car performed way better than any driver Robert has ever seen. He expects total adoption of automation by the trucking industry within five years.

    “They won’t sell models, they’ll sell mobility”

    To be a success, electric cars will need to completely change the ownership model. It’s not just oil consumption that is unsustainable. Regardless of whether there’s enough lithium to supply batteries at the rate the car market is growing, there isn’t enough steel, rubber or plastic to make enough cars. As 90% of cars on the road are not in use 90% of the time, selling a service (as opposed to a car) is the direction manufacturers will have to take.

    With a self-driving car you could use it as much as you do now without owning it or having it parked outside your house. You wouldn’t even need to charge it, Robert says. “It will be charged when it turns up at your house because it will have charged itself.” Getting a charging point at your house is still worthwhile though, as he adds, “It’s very obvious that it’s not going to happen overnight.” It’s likely to be at least 10 years and possibly 20 before we see a significant change in car ownership.

    The existing energy production system has hidden costs

    When making the TV series ‘How Do They Do It?’, Robert learnt that oil refineries use so much electricity they have to have their own power stations! One in Pembrokeshire uses the same amount of electricity in a year as Coventry and Leicester. Thus, reducing oil refining would enable the greater electricity consumption needed for more electric cars.

    This typifies the ‘invisible’ costs of established technology. Petrol stations are considered a normal part of everyday life, therefore the costs aren’t thought about. Yet Robert points out the energy required to supply petrol stations is “catastrophically colossal”.

    Energy companies are starting to embrace change

    Financial savings are motivating change in the energy industry. Robert gives the example of solar plants. As with coal and nuclear, initial installation is hugely expensive, but once up and running, solar is much cheaper. No fuel costs, no waste management, no storage and no transportation mean massive savings.

    In the case of Pacific Edison, the huge American power company who use coal, nuclear and gas plants to generate electricity, “peak management issues” were overloading the grid. They found the cheapest solution was batteries, and this was in fact Tesla’s first multi-megawatt sized grid battery backup.

    Renewable energy production is growing globally

    It’s encouraging to see the adoption of renewable technologies “at breakneck pace” around the world. Robert points to China where the rate of solar panel and wind turbine installations is “mindboggling”. The UK is gradually producing more renewable energy too: it is actually the biggest offshore wind generating country in the world, taking advantage of the fact that 40% of all the wind in Europe is around the British Isles.

    You can run your house off your car and vice versa

    Robert says he doesn’t actually see himself as very ‘green’ and even admits to having an Aga! However, he has made gradual changes. He only has electric cars now, and in his house he has improved the insulation, added solar panels, very good windows and a battery on the wall. As a result, his electricity bill has dropped by about 85%.

    This form of domestic energy production and storage represent a big threat to the status quo, which he calls massively inefficient: “We have to subsidise all of the fossil fuel plants to a colossal amount of money to keep them running.” Robert’s house is typical of how current technology can be much more efficient, and he describes how some offices in the UK use similar systems and save hundreds of thousands of pounds a year without using any grid electricity.

    Tesla Powerwall Battery
    Image source: www.inhabitat.com

    Local energy production and storage would be more efficient

    The big UK energy companies are actually in favour of producing, owning and selling electricity locally as it would save a lot of money. The price of electricity fluctuates from getting paid to use it, to being fantastically expensive. At peak times it is imported at a higher cost than we ever pay for it, by many thousands of percent.

    Robert counters recent claims we’d need ten times more electricity if we moved to local production and storage. More intelligent and regular use would avoid the sudden peaks and troughs that are currently so costly and inefficient.

    Volume new builds aren’t designed to be energy efficient

    Robert doesn’t hold back about the standard of new houses, which he says are “designed and built by morons!” He laments their individual gas boilers, traditional pitched roofs that don’t face south and lack of solar panels.

    Robert cites studies showing you can build an efficient house at the cheapest possible cost where the house produces ALL the energy it needs, emphasising, “the people who live in that house will have free heating and lighting for the life of the building.”

    Lower energy homes could make a huge difference

    By using systems like the ones Robert has, with solar panels, batteries for storage and electric cars, a house can place about 70% less demand on the grid. While this means very little by itself, application on a much larger scale could have a huge environmental impact. A million houses set up in that way would mean closing down two fossil fuel burning power plants.

    Find out more

    Visit the website of Fully Charged

    Follow Robert Llewellyn on Twitter

     

    Transcript

    Download a transcript of the interview with Robert Llewellyn

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  • HPH182 : Extracting energy from watercourses by generating electricity and extracting heat – with Justin Broadbent from ISO Energy

    HPH182 : Extracting energy from watercourses by generating electricity and extracting heat – with Justin Broadbent from ISO Energy

    Justin Broadbent from ISO Energy explains the options available for extracting energy from water on your plot of land.

    Interview with Justin Broadbent

    It’s our second chat with Justin Broadbent who is the chairman and founder of ISO Energy, a renewable energy installer. Last time he explained what a ground source heat pump is.

    Water gives more energy than wind because of its density

    There is a long history of using watercourses to drive mechanical objects in the UK. Although grain grinding was wind-powered, the mills of the early Industrial Revolution were driven by water because of the amount of power in it.

    Extracting heat from water can be simple and efficient

    If you have a small stream running through your garden, the simplest and most worthwhile thing you can do is extract energy in the form of heat. Justin says, “If you have the right spot and you have the right watercourse, then it is fantastic.”

    Any water can be used for energy extraction

    A large pond can be used for extracting heat; the amount of energy depends on the size of the pond and the heat load required. A flowing river has a constant temperature of 7 to 12 degrees, and a pond can get much warmer.

    If there’s a flow in and out of the pond, the energy is effectively being replaced all the time. With a stream, the energy is quickly replaced so more heat can be extracted.

    Choose the correct heat extraction device

    In a pond with fairly slow running water, Justin would install a simple mechanism that extracts heat using coils of plastic pipe.

    Lake ‘Loop Collector’

    In slightly flowing water he would use ‘Energy Blades’. These banks of stainless steel ‘radiators’ extract an enormous amount of energy. Justin explains, “Almost whatever you take out, as long as you don’t actually freeze the water, two seconds later, there’s new fresh water coming down the stream.” Such systems can be scaled up to extract hundreds of thousands of kilowatt-hours a year, by putting in banks of multiple radiators.

    Installing Energy Blades
    Energy Blades in action

    You may need planning permission

    In an area of outstanding natural beauty you must obtain planning permission for works like these. Additionally, Justin says you would need permission from the Environment Agency to dam a river or stream, but not if you wanted to put an Energy Blade in the water as it’s easily removable.

    Expertise is necessary but installation is relatively straightforward

    Justin says that extracting heat from water is cheaper and more efficient than from the ground, which is not as straightforward. He says it’s worth employing professionals but essentially, if you’re fortunate enough to have a stream, you can easily install an Energy Blade for two to three thousand pounds. To do the same in the ground, he estimates a cost of five or six thousand pounds.

    Heat extraction doesn’t have to be hugely invasive

    Some of Justin’s clients make a feature of how they’re heating their house, for example diverting part of their stream, and adding a canal and viewing walkway. But you can simply put the energy blade in the stream and dig a small trench back to your heat pump.

    Hydroelectric generation ideally needs both volume and flow of water

    To generate electricity from water, you need the water to drop enough between the top and bottom of the stream. The greater this ‘flow’ or ‘head’, the more power you can generate. Justin summarises, “In an ideal world you have head and volume and then you can build a traditional turbine. If you don’t have the head, then you have to have even more volume.”

    Traditional hydro systems are built near big mountain rivers in places like the Alps, Scotland and Wales. The right features are not easily found in the south of England and where they do exist you’d be unlikely to get planning permission.

    If you can’t have a turbine, look for old water mills

    In Southern England, generating electricity from water is rare. However, Justin’s company has converted several mills where turbines can’t be used but the volume in the hill stream is sufficient to drive an ‘Archimedes Screw’, where the flow of water turns an electrical generator.

    Archimedes Screw in action

    The same feed-in tariff for photovoltaic cells applies to an Archimedes Screw

    Some of these systems generate a constant 15 to 20 kilowatts of electricity an hour. As this is far more than a single house needs, you can sell the surplus back to the electricity companies. Justin adds, “If you have photovoltaic panels on your roof, they might produce a few kilowatts. Well, an Archimedes Screw should be able to generate tens of kilowatts. Much more efficient.”

    These are low maintenance, robust systems

    Energy blades are fairly static and require very little maintenance. As they are stainless steel they don’t rust and have quite a long lifecycle. Furthermore, they are protected by guards built on the front.

    Likewise, Archimedes screw systems are heavy but fairly basic, just needing the bearings replaced when they eventually go and some maintenance of the gearbox.

    Environmental considerations can add costs

    Heat extraction in streams won’t affect wildlife, as the amount of energy taken out is so small in relation to the volumes involved. A pond cooling may affect wildlife slightly, but Justin is reassured that those species survive lower temperatures in Scotland.

    Justin explains that you can’t block a stream completely to use the power of the water. One common, though costly, method to ensure that fish, eels and animals can get by is to use a ‘fish pass’. A maze of gradual drops allows fish to swim upstream, avoiding the mechanism.

    You get less return on investment with a smaller system

    There’s not much difference in the cost of a small system producing five kilowatts and one giving 10 to 20 kilowatts of energy, because of the costs of getting permissions, civil engineering and manufacturing. Justin explains that his company rarely works on systems that are producing less than 20 kilowatts. “Suddenly you’ve found that it’s all going to cost £150,000 and you’re only going to make £5,000 a year out of it. It doesn’t pay back.”

    ItemApproximate Cost
    5 kilowatt Archimedes Screw £15,000
    20 kilowatt Archimedes Screw£60,000
    Civil engineering£20,000
    Fish pass£30,000
    Planning permission / consultant’s time£40,000

    It’s worth investigating how to use any water source on your plot

    You may be able to generate electricity or heat, or even both, from water on your land.

    With current government incentives (those for generating electricity normally last 20 years, and about seven years for heat), Justin calculates you can get your money back on a heat system within three to five years, followed by hugely reduced running costs.

    And you might even be able to get government incentives to support the construction of the system. “So, it’s definitely worth doing,” Justin says, “So long as the government grants are out there.”

     

    Find out more

    Visit the website of ISO Energy

    Follow ISO Energy on Twitter

     

    Transcript

    Download a transcript of the interview with Justin Broadbent

     

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  • HPH154 : The challenges of building a new home in a rural community – with Jeremy Harris

    HPH154 : The challenges of building a new home in a rural community – with Jeremy Harris

    Jeremy Harris, a scientist by background, wanted a low energy house for his retirement. He talks about the initial stages of his self-build project: finding a plot of land and obtaining planning approval.

    Jeremy Harris

    Interview with Jeremy Harris

    Jeremy Harris, a scientist by background, wanted a low energy house for his retirement. He first came up with the idea that he might like to build a house around ten years ago.

    It’s important to fully understand the beginning of the self-build process

    Jeremy found television programmes and magazines rarely touch on finding a plot, designing a house to fit that plot, and the people you have to employ to do all of that work. It can be very expensive, costing thousands of pounds for planning consultants, architects, building control, etc.

    Plots can seem very nice on websites but look nothing like the photographs in reality

    Finding a plot of land was extremely hard. The Harrises drove several thousand miles, visiting disappointing plots. They began by looking at what they wanted to build, but Jeremy concluded this was the wrong way round: first find a plot, then determine what type of house will fit on it.

    Having walked away from one likely prospect, by chance they found their plot of land 16 miles from where they were living. It was too overgrown to see properly and fenced so they couldn’t get into it, but looked like it might be exactly what they wanted: facing south (i.e. good solar access) and in a sheltered valley.

    There's a plot in there somewhere!
    There’s a plot in there somewhere!

    Buying a plot is not the same as buying a house – ensure services will be available

    When buying a plot of land a solicitor can tell you if there’s a public footpath on it but won’t find out if you’ve got water, mains electricity, mains sewage or even if the boundaries are in the right place.

    Services in rural areas are often stretched to the limit. Jeremy had to ask the relevant utility companies if they could supply:

    1. Electricity? Fortunately there was plenty of power on their doorstep.
    2. Water? Companies have a statutory duty to supply water but the issue is cost. They’d have to dig up a lane for 140 metres and although Jeremy shopped around (anybody with a licence can do the digging), the minimum cost was still £24,500.
    3. Mains sewerage? There’s no statutory requirement to supply this and the cheapest the water company could provide it was £14,800.
    4. A new phone connection? Telecoms companies see self-builders as developers. If there isn’t enough capacity, they can charge whatever they want to lay a new multi-cable.

    As services would cost so much, Jeremy renegotiated the price accepted. The land hadn’t sold for eight years so he persuaded the vendor to knock off a substantial amount.

    Many building plots have boundaries in the wrong place where the Land Registry is concerned

    Plots of land don’t have registered boundaries as a rule. There was a boundary error affecting the Harrises’ plot meaning the house approved to go on it wouldn’t fit.

    The process for resolving boundary errors is complex and time consuming. It’s up to the vendor to do it, so you have to persuade them to spend money with Land Registry to get title plans amended. This often affects adjacent houses, as well as your plot, involving lenders as they have a right on the title.

    A stumbling block can sometimes turn out to be an opportunity

    It took them a year to get their boundary error resolved, but this allowed time to plan the project properly.

    Jeremy wrote a brief with eight key design points but the architects he approached didn’t seem to understand the role of design with low energy houses. Looking further afield for a Passivhaus specialist was an option, but thinking the distance might make communication difficult Jeremy decided he’d design their house himself.

    So the year was productively spent:

    • Evolving designs for the house
    • Tracking down the local Openreach engineer who offered help at no cost, as Jeremy planned to dig trenches on the plot and an underground network would solve local problems with overhead cables and trees
    • Discovering a borehole was possible, at half the cost of mains water
    • Planning a sewage treatment plant, costing around £3,500; much cheaper than digging up the lane

    This avoided inflaming an existing situation with the neighbours, as the plot had a chequered planning history, and saved money too!

    The borehole
    The borehole

    Once the principle of development is established by an approval, it’s extremely difficult for planners to remove it

    The Harrises’ plot had planning permission for a little stone bungalow that they didn’t want. As the local authority had approved the principle of putting a house on the plot, their plan was to submit a new application.

    Areas of outstanding natural beauty, conservation areas and proximity to listed buildings put constraints on what you can build. For example, needing to have all the external materials approved, as was the case with Jeremy’s house.

    Good communication paves the way for a smoother planning application process

    In Jeremy’s area, seven objection letters result in the application being referred to a planning committee, where emotions come into play far more than planning law.

    A previous application for the plot resulted in 14 objections at Parish Council level and dozens of letters. To mitigate objections for their application, Jeremy spoke to every neighbour, sent them regular update newsletters and even Christmas cards.

    He also made scale models, enabling all interested parties to understand the design before the planning application went in. His wife could look inside the rooms to see whether they were big enough, and the neighbours could see what the house might look like in the landscape. And the scale model played an important part at the Parish Council planning meeting, where applicants aren’t allowed to talk.

    model-sw-view-small

    “We had several cases where objectors turned to supporters”

    Jeremy eliminated concerns by talking them through with neighbours:

    Genuine concernsWhat Jeremy did
    New house would overload the sewage systemExplained they were putting in a sewage treatment plant instead
    Height of the house might block views or cast shadowsUsed the 3D scale model to show that the house would be set into the hillside (3m down)
    Being overlooked in their back gardenUsed the model to show that the garage blocked the view (neighbour was also happy the garage protected their vegetable patch from the wind)

    Engaging with local people is important but Jeremy adds a caveat: be cautious and put your foot down if neighbours ask for too much; at the end of the day it’s your plot and your house.

    The Harrises got through the planning stage with no letters of objection at all, so the decision was down to a Planning Officer purely based on the law and planning policies for the area, and approval was granted.

    Transcript

    Download a transcript of the interview with Jeremy Harris

    Find out more

    Check out Jeremy’s blog on the project

     

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  • HPH082 : Do I Need Solar Photovoltaic (PV)? – with David Winterton from Ecological Design

    HPH082 : Do I Need Solar Photovoltaic (PV)? – with David Winterton from Ecological Design

    David Winterton from Sydney-based consultancy Ecological Design gives us a rundown of solar photovoltaic (solar PV). We find out how it works, what the key considerations are and why prices of PV panels always seem to be coming down!

    David Winterton Photo

     

    Interview with David Winterton

    Having travelled a lot over the years, David feels that sustainability offers a deeper sense of connection. He’s witnessed first hand how indigenous communities have worked within their natural environment to create better places to live. And David believes that the same thing applies in our cities, which should be bustling, culturally inviting and invigorating. Sustainability is about better ways to live.

     

    Around 1 Million People in Australia Live Off-Grid

    The situation in Australia is unique because of the incredibly high levels of solar resources. Coupled with high energy prices and a decrease in the price of PV (Photovoltaic) panels, it seems an obvious choice for many to live off-grid. Some states in Australia have over 30% of their energy supplied by renewables.

     

    Solar Panels and Solar PV defined

    When people talk of solar panels they might think of them being for hot water. Solar PVs in this conversation relate to the technology which converts sunlight directly into electricity.

     

    The Fundamental Thing to Understand About Solar PV is That it’s Static

    While other forms of electrical generation, such as hydro, wind and nuclear, are all based on parts spinning around, the PV’s remain static. The sun coming in creates an electrical current between the different wafers of silicone. From there the DC output from the panels is converted, using an inverter, into AC.

     

    A Number of Factors Have Contributed to The Downward Price Curve of Solar PV

    With initial investments in plants and equipment being paid off, and improvements in the manufacturing processes and the way silicone is produced, the costs of panels (but not labour) have fallen.

    David emphasises however that he would never recommend selecting panels purely based on price. With most companies offering between 10 and 25 year warranties they are going to be in the building fabric of communities for a long time so it is important that you make the right investment. He gives inverters (the part which converts DC into AC) which should be lasting 10 years as a case in point. Some of the poorer quality ones have been failing within 5 years.

     

    We Should Be looking at Matching Our Energy Consumption With Our Yield

    Previously it was the case that we tried to just get the highest yields out of the systems. With so little being paid for over-production that goes back to the grid, it actually makes sense for your peak levels being generated to be at the peak time that you will need it. For example, north facing panels (in Australia) would have a peak production in the middle of the day, and if you’re not there in the middle of the day then it’s not matching your energy requirements. It might be better to have two strings of panels with an east-west array that will be giving you a peak production closer to your waking up and getting home times of day.

    The energy density of modern panels has improved meaning that now you can get a lot more power into a smaller panel. This therefore makes them viable to use in more shaded areas where once it wouldn’t have made financial sense to do so.

     

    A Small Energy Storage System Can Avoid The Reliance on Peak Grid Energy Prices

    With energy prices going up over 45cents a kw hour during the energy usage peak at night, it might be worth having a battery system to store any excess produced during the day so you don’t have to depend on the expensive energy during this short period of time.

    David sees a similar trajectory that has happened with the number of people having solar PV over the last 10 years, happening with battery storage.

     

    Some Key Considerations:

    • Avoid low quality systems.
    • Future proofing – in terms of battery storage it is worth checking to ensure that any system you are considering has the capacity to feed into a battery storage option.
    • Understand your shading – shading on any one of your panels will result in a drop in voltage as it will actually revert to the lowest voltage across all of the panels. A smaller system designed with a different orientation might actually better meet your energy needs.
    • Energy efficiency first – there’s always energy efficiency to be found in a house at some level so it is always best to focus on this first.
    • Avoid companies which say you can upgrade for example a 3kw inverter to a 5kw inverter in the future – David emphasises that this is not how inverters work!
    • Ask solar installers for production graphs of how much energy you will produce, which you can then overlay with your energy consumption.
    • Talk to neighbours – particularly those with PV to see how it can work within the community.

     

    There is a Place Within Energy Markets For Community Energy

    David feels that community energy can play a strong part. Even if you’re unable to put solar PV on your home it is important to understand community initiatives in your area and what they will mean for the future. He gives the example of New South Wales where he believes that political decisions that have been made about their energy systems have not been in the interests of the community. He stresses the importance of understanding the governance and the capacity for making changes to get those things to work.

     

    Find Out More

    Visit Ecological Design’s website

     

    Transcript

    Download a transcript of the interview with David Winterton.

     

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