If you watched last night’s episode of Grand Designs, you will have no doubt been blown away be the fantastic spiral house built on Blackdown Hills in Devonshire, and in particular, the curved solar PV panels – designed and installed by EvoEnergy!
Click the link to view the full case study.
Although EvoEnergy no longer install on houses, this was a unique project where an exception was made and the team jumped at the opportunity to get involved and demonstrate their ability to design even the most complex of solar PV systems.
Owners, Stephen and Elizabeth Tetlow, originally contacted EvoEnergy back in 2015 highlighting the time it’s taken to bring a project like this to life with endless design and build complexities bringing huge engineering challenges to all contractors involved.
Requiring a solar PV system that fitted flush with a non-symmetrical curved roof was equally a challenge for EvoEnergy. Working with panel manufacturers, GB-Sol, EvoEnergy provided specification for 33 bespoke solar panels (5.34 kWp in total) with each differing in size and curve. The panels were formed with a number of polymer layers to protect the silicon modules from weathering and cracking which also required a large period of ‘trial and error’ during the manufacturing process to achieve the tough enduring finish needed. This was far from your standard ‘off the shelf’ solution.
A bespoke mounting system was also developed by EvoEnergy, which was proposed to Stephen and the architect during the planning stages of the project.
The installation was also completed over several weeks; the mounting, panels, wiring and inverters were all done at different times to work around the various design stages of the build so that the system could be fully integrated and minimise the need to try and hide wiring after the installation.
Since completion, the house has also been featured in the Daily Mail and The Times.
The high-spec building materials together with the solar PV and other low-carbon energy and heating solutions gives the property an EPC rating of ‘A’, further estimating that the cost of powering and heating the home will be around £50 per month. With 5 bedrooms and 244 square metres of floor space, this cost is less than half of a typical ‘large’ home
If you missed the coverage of the project on Channel 4’s Grand Designs show (aired 11th October 2017) you can view it again on the video below.