Your first step to using renewables...

Below is an easy to understand guide of what is required to incorporate renewable energy into your home and/or business.


PV Electricity

Solar PV is one of the more simple technologies to install as there is no integrating to the existing system.

The panels provide you with electricity and then you can either use this electricity or it goes back into the grid and you will be paid for every KW that is generated.

The 'feed in tariff' has been reduced but due to the price of materials and the high installers costs, the price of PV has been out of many peoples budgets. Here at Valley Services Ltd we are committed to providing PV installations at low installation prices.


Solar Thermal

Thermal solar turns the suns radiation into hot water by means of panels; this hot water can then be used to heat your hot water and heating system.

One big difference to Solar PV is the installation; it needs to be specially designed in order to be incorporated into the existing heating and hot water system.

Solar Thermal is mostly used to heat a property's hot water because using it for heating would mean having to have storage for the water and many properties don't have the space required for this.

We use a design calculation (called a T-SOL) which takes into consideration the size and position of the property in relation to the sun.

Solar thermal is the most economical way to reduce your fuel bills and upgrade your existing system.


Other Renewable Technologies

• Air to Air
• Air to Water
• Ground Source
• Biomass
• Combined Heat and Power Units


All of the above renewables are very different to both Solar PV and Solar Thermal as to make sure they are working efficiently we need to calculate the heat loss from the building they are being designed for.


So how do we do that?

It is very simple really, a survey of the property is carried out to make a heat loss calculation, and this provides us with the size in KW of what is needed to heat the building.

If the calculation is too high and the property is not able to hold the heat produced in the building then works will be required to upgrade before any renewable technologies are fitted.

In simple terms, the property basically 'kicks out' all the heat so it requires more and more heat to try and keep it warm - this will result in very large fuel bills!

Possible upgrades required could be things like loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, double/triple glazing etc.

So as you can see your building might only require a minor upgrade in order to make it more energy efficient.

Once we know the properties requirement we can go through all the various renewable technologies that are available to decide what is best for you and your property.


Please feel free to call and we can advise you further: 01433 620220.