Energy Positive Home

Britain’s First Low-Cost Energy Positive Home is an “I was there moment”

The question of how we will power our homes in a carbon-free future is, in many ways, the defining challenge of the 21st century. While climate scientists are in unanimous agreement that fossil fuels must be left in the ground if we are to avert dangerous levels of climate change, renewable energy has long been critiqued as too expensive or too unpredictable to be used as a viable alternative. But a low-cost revolutionary energy positive home built in Wales promises to be a gamechanger.

What is an energy positive home?

An energy positive home is one that generates more power than it imports through the grid. There are a number of technologies that make this possible, most importantly a 4.5KWp PV solar panel roof system and a 6.9KWh battery that generates and manages power supply, combined with the use of super insulating materials to reduce air-leakage and drastically cut the building’s power demand. While this model energy positive home will need to import some energy to get it through the winter months, the solar panels will allow occupants to export energy to the national grid for eight months of the year.

How is it possible for a home to generate more power than it uses?

The researchers from Cardiff University haven’t invented anything new whilst putting together their energy positive home, known as Solcer House, they’ve simply been the first people to join the dots of a number of different exciting energy technologies in a way that is both functional and affordable. LED lighting, low carbon cement and hot water heat storage have all existed for years, but when all of these technologies are put together in a new build they add up to something rather special.

Are energy positive homes cost-effective?

Critics of renewable energy have long argued that solar power is too expensive to implement. Yet this positive energy home is predicted to generate £175 ($276) in electricity exports for every £100 ($157) spent on electricity. This will mean that occupants not only don’t have to worry about footing an energy bill (in a country where roughly 10% of the population live in fuel poverty), but can use the money generated by their solar panels to help them pay the rent.

Just as importantly, this three-bedroom house cost roughly £1,000 ($1,579) per square metre (£125,000 ($1997,443) in total) to build, meaning that its price falls within the current guidelines for social housing which are set at £800 ($1,263) to £1,000 per square metre. And if these energy positive homes are built on a larger scale, the researchers predict that the price would come down to £100,000 ($157,955). Lastly, the house was constructed in just sixteen weeks, again putting them in the same ballpark as similarly-sized conventional energy negative homes. In reality, there is no reason why housebuilders couldn’t build these homes if they chose to do so.

What if all new houses were positive energy houses?

In an ironic twist of fate, this home was constructed within a few weeks of the British Chancellor George Osborne pushing back the date at which all new builds need to be energy neutral until beyond 2016. Homes account for one third of UK carbon emissions, so positive energy homes such as this one are likely to be an important part of any meaningful attempt to meet our legally-binding climate change targets. The researchers have shown that we have the technology, the resources and the ability to construct homes that are energy positive, all that’s lacking is the political will.

About the Author: Clive Rolison is passionate about cutting costs for homeowners and businesses through renewable energy technology. His company, Complete Renewables, is the leading installer of solar panels in Essex.