The development of 52 houses at an average size of 147m² have been insulated to a level 30% above the average home in Canada in order to keep the energy needs low.  Around 800 solar panels have been fitted to the roof of each house and completely covering all of the garages in the development enabling them to collect 1.5MW of solar energy in a heat storage fluid.  This glycol based fluid is then transferred to a central energy centre where it is stored.

During Winter months any collected solar energy is stored in a short term storage tank where it is used straight away to heat water to provide space heating and hot water to the houses.  But the clever bit comes in the Summer months when the excess heat energy is pumped below ground through boreholes, similar to a reverse heat pump, heating the ground temperature up to around 80°C.  Due to the high insulation properties of the surrounding earth, this heat energy is sufficiently retained so that it can be drawn from the ground in the Winter to provide additional heating to the properties.

The system performs particularly well due to the scale of the development, and it should be noted that a similar system would not work on a single dwelling because of the substantial energy losses that would occur.  However, if a system such as this can be pulled off on a development in Canada, then why aren’t we outperforming them over here in the UK.  Hopefully this development can provide some inspiration for future schemes here in the near future.

Via Green Building Elements

The technique involves ‘painting’ glass with a mix of transparent, organic dyes which collect the income light and transport it towards the frame of the glass where photovoltaic cells convert it electricity.  Any light that makes it through the glass can be picked up by another set of solar cells behind the glass.

Engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say that the technology could be used to convert glass buildings into vast energy plants, potentially generating all their own electricity.

What’s more, the team say that the system is simple to manufacture and could be implemented within three years!

The graphic below shows how the system works.

Via BBC & Telegraph