Apparently the National Trust property Dunster Casle has installed 24 solar panels. It becomes the first NT Grade 1 listed property to introduce this sort of renewable enrergy technology.
It will produce the equivalent of the energy consumed by two ordinary family homes. The cells will generate 5,500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year of electricity, meaning that the Castle will not to "import" that electricity from the fossil-fuelled National Grid and save almost 3000 kg of CO2 a year. That's the equivalent of travelling almost 14,000 miles in an average car or about 280 journeys by car from the nearest town (Taunton) to visit the Castle each year.
The design has taken account of aesthetics and the historic importance of the building. There is no loading or direct contact of the panels, or frame, on the roof itself and the panels will not be visible from ground level. The design is fully reversible, should new technologies develop in the future.
The panels will take about 4 years to "pay back" the CO2 cost in producing them.
2 comments:
Pete - spent quite a while trying to catch up on your excellent postings. Fabulous photography and interesting text, as always! I'm quite jealous of your Galanthus, Erianthus and Helleborus. It will be some time before we see any such signs of spring. We are caught in a pattern of snow, sleet and torrential rains, with wildly fluctuating temperatures.
I was very interested in the chicken jumpers - very clever (and just a little amusing).
The dormice are so cute - enjoyed the linked article. I'm so glad they're under such protected status.
Glad you liked "my" mallards - I liked yours, as well.
Yes, I KNOW I want that digital camera. And someday, soon, I'll get one. But when you're - how to put this, delicately - financially embarrassed, it goes on the 'wish list,' until such time as I find gainful employment (this freelance writing thing isn't panning out). Meantime, I open the kitchen drawer, gaze at my dead 'Advantix' camera (can't seem to part with the carcass) and sigh... Deb
Pete - Thanks for the good information and encouragement, but the old budget won't allow it for awhile and, as it happens, I did have my eye on a 'canon!' I've made a note of your recommendation for later.
Thanks...... Deb
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