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Fighting climate change with the power of the sun....Why they are doing things to help the climate.... Bryan Pickering from Daws House near Launceston wants to do what he can to protect the climate. He feels that we should all think about what sort of world we are going to leave for our children and grandchildren if we don’t start tackling climate change now. He feels climate change is constantly in the news and it is time to take it seriously and start to do things as individuals to tackle it. With this in mind he decided to look at how he could reduce carbon emissions in his own home and he hopes other people will follow his lead to help protect the climate for the future. What they are doing.... Bryan has already taken steps to reduce his energy use at home by installing insulation, using low energy lighting and changing his behavior to make sure lights and appliances are switched off when not in use. All these steps ensure that, as far as possible, he is only using the energy he actually needs at home. He has now considered how he can generate his own energy at home and has recently installed a solar hot water and solar photovoltaic (PV) system He has installed two solar hot water panels on the house, that convert daylight directly into hot water, which is stored in the hot water tank in the house until it is needed. During the summer months nearly all the hot water needed will be provided and over the course of a year an average system can provide up to 75% of your hot water demand. The PV system he has installed is rated at 4 kW which will provide approximately 4000 kWh of electricity every year. Any electricity they do not use is sold into the national grid, generating an income for the household. PV panels work by converting the energy in sunlight directly into electricity, there is no noise or moving parts and the panels need little maintenance. They are also guaranteed to work for at least 25 years. Why it’s important….. We all use energy in our homes to provide heating, hot water and electricity for lights and appliances. In the UK, most of this comes from power stations that use fossils fuels which, when burnt, release greenhouse gases and in particular carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Every tonne of carbon dioxide emissions released commits us to further climate change. So every time we switch something on in the home we are directly adding to the problem. However, it is not too late to tackle climate change; every tonne of emissions we avoid reduces the threat. The Energy Saving Trust say that an average home is responsible for 6 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year, in terms of the UK as a whole this is around 25% of all the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions! We can’t just stop using energy at home, but we can take steps to ensure that we use it wisely. As Bryan has done, the starting point for this is energy efficiency, to ensure we only use the energy we need. Making your home more energy efficient is cheap and easy to do and can save around 2 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year – as well as money on your fuel bills. You can get free and independent advice on saving energy at home, as well as advice on grants from the Cornwall Energy Efficiency Advice centre – for more information about this organisation click this link. Once you have made your home energy efficient, the next big way to help tackle climate change is Further information.... To find out more about climate change and how it will impact Cornwall, visit our understanding climate change pages. Bryan had his solar systems put in by Cornwall’s Plug into the Sun company, you can find out more about them and about solar power from their website. They are one of many companies in Cornwall that can install renewable energy systems into your home or business; you can find a full list of accredited installers (including Plug into the Sun) from the Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership installer website. For more detailed information on solar PV and solar hot water visit the Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership’s information pages. For information on grants for solar power and other renewable energy systems on your home, community building, school or business visit the Government’s Low Carbon Buildings Programme. For more information on how to save energy at home visit the Energy Saving Trust website. You can also get free and independent advice from Cornwall based Community Energy Plus.
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OptionsThis StoryListen again to this story.... Related Stories4.Cornwall Energy Efficiency Advice Centre 17. Climate Change will affect us all 30. Climate friendly lifestyles Related LinksClimate Change Plug into the Sun Clean Energy Grants for renewable energy Energy Saving Trust Cornwall EEAC
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on the house. These systems use the energy in sunlight to generate clean, carbon free, hot water and electricity for the house throughout the year. This helps the climate and helps to save money on his energy bills. Any electricity they don’t use at home is put into the national grid.
to generate your own energy. The systems that Bryan has installed on his home will ensure that he can get clean, carbon free electricity and hot water all year around. An average solar hot water system will save up to 750Kg of carbon dioxide a year and the solar PV system he has installed will save over 1 tonne of carbon dioxide a year. 