Brighton & Hove Apartment building Elwyn Jones Court

Goal

Accessible solar energy directly benefiting local residents in multi-tenant buildings to address energy poverty.

A solution for rooftop PV on an apartment building, where the installation is mainly targeting the consumption of a Ground source heating pump for the whole building.

Description

The rooftop PV energy is mainly targeted at running a ground source heat pump for the whole building.

Elwyn Jones Court is seniors’ accommodation owned by BHCC, currently heated by night storage heaters run from the landlord supply.  These storage heaters are due to be replaced with a Ground Source Heat Pump (outside scope of SOLARISE), which will significantly flatten the electricity demand curve at the site.

Two large solar arrays are installed to part-run these GSHPs, maximising the self-consumption of solar PV on-site and enabling a renewable heating solution to be driven by renewable electricity.

This accommodation is for older people and so it is important for the heating to be available throughout the year. Demand for hot water is also higher than usual. The cost of heating affects residents’ service charges, so affordability is crucial. The solar-generated energy means that residents, most of whom are on fixed incomes, are partially protected from the steep rises in electricity prices seen in late 2021 onwards.