Below is a brief overview of the most common renewable technologies, if you would like to given below and to find out if it’s right got you get in touch at sw@sustainablewallingford.org

Solar PV is perhaps the most well known renewable technology. It was first invented as early as 1860, since then the technology has come on leaps and bounds and the last 40 years, especially, have seen a dramatic decrease in the cost of solar PV at the same time as an increase in efficiencies causing them to become a cheap and reliable technology. The size of the system required depends on your needs and your building, to find out what output you can expect at your site, please contact us.

A typical household can meet all of their energy needs with a 3.5kw system (costing between £4000 – £8000) and with an average annual saving of around £800/year.

Solar Thermal

Solar water heating systems capture the heat from the Sun and use it to heat up water for use in the home.

A Typical system will cost around £3000 and, it only provides heating and hot water but can save around £300 per year

Wind

Wind turbines harness the power of the wind to turn a generator, a wind turbine’s output depends greatly on your location but for guidance A 1.5-kW wind turbine will meet the needs of a home requiring 300 kWh per month in a location with a 14 MPH (6.26 meters per second) annual average wind speed. To find out what output you can expect at your site please contact us.

This size of system costs £1500 – £3000.

Heat Pumps

Heat pumps use energy in the ground to deliver heating and hot water. The work using gas expansion, similar to a fridge but takes advantage of this principle for heat rather than cooling.

As a rule of thumb, a ground-source system is likely to cost about £1000 per installed kilowatt (kW).

Passive design

We’re passionate about passive design, which takes advantage of clever design and the natural climate to make the most of the heat available to your home. Passive design incorporates many features such as thermally massive materials and orientation and can greatly reduce or eliminate the need for any heating system.

Passive design can be free and simply requires changes to your existing plans if you are planning a new build however modifications can be expensive in existing buildings.