FUTURE PROOFING
The project has connected 24 flats to lower-cost solar energy at Odet Court , with the potential to meet 55 – 75 % of each flat ’ s electricity demand . Based on the average usage of 1,800 – 2,400kWh for a one-bed flat , this could equate to an electricity bill saving of around 50 % (£ 390 – 530 ) a year , given the current average electricity costs in the UK of 34p / kWh . In fact , data from our monitoring platform throughout April and May 2023 at Odet Court shows that the average bill savings across apartments is 41 % – this will vary throughout the year as heating , cooling and other electricity needs vary . The project has been funded by the Welsh government in association with Wales & West Housing as part of the Optimised RetroFit Programme .
The innovative solar + battery system will annually produce and store 50,248kWh of green solar energy for the direct benefit of residents . Each flat will equally share the energy produced , resulting in 2,094kWh per unit . The generative capacity translates into savings in the following way . For any type of solar PV system , when the solar energy is delivered to the home , it is either consumed on-site or exported back to the grid if more solar PV is delivered to the home than can be used by it . A typical solar PV system in the UK will consume on average 40 % of the solar energy that has been produced and export 60 % back to the grid .
Even though over the course of the year the solar generated is the same amount as the home ’ s energy needs , it will only reduce its grid energy usage by 40 %. When multiple flats are connected to solar PV via SolShare , however , the solar PV is directed to the flats when they are using energy . This optimisation increases the average solar consumption from 40 % to almost 50 %. not require any changes to the existing supply and metering infrastructure .
A real asset
SolShare is a potential game-changer for asset managers looking to upgrade existing housing stock , and also for property developers , due to its ability to improve EPC band ratings and increase SAP points much more affordably than existing solutions .
On average , SolShare increases SAP scores in each flat by five to 15 points at a rough cost of £ 2K to £ 4K per flat . For asset owners needing to upgrade existing housing stock , this is far more cost-efficient than alternative solutions ; adding wall insulation , for example , can cost £ 10 – 15k per flat for the same increase in SAP points .
What is more , SolShare is sometimes the only way property developers can gain the desired EPC ratings for newly built flats . Following the release of SAP 10.2 , solar PV must be directly connected to flats . SolShare is the world ’ s only technology for connecting multiple flats to a single rooftop PV array , qualifying for up to 15 SAP points per flat .
Existing solar PV specialists can easily be trained to install SolShare , making installing systems across the country easy . In the next two months over 600 flats in the UK will be connected to solar PV by SolShare . �
The site at Odet Court also includes batteries , which increase consumption even further . Allume estimates the consumption to increase to 55 – 75 % depending on each flat ’ s energy usage . If 55 – 75 % of 2,094kWh of solar is consumed , and each flat will consume 1,152 – 1,570kWh . We can estimate that the grid energy reduction will likely range from 50 – 85 % for the flats once the data is reviewed in a few months ’ time .
Not only has SolShare significantly reduced the amount of hardware and footprint required , but it has also reduced installation costs as compared to a typical solar system . Its ‘ dynamic sharing ’ capacity also delivers an improved solar utilisation of over 25 %. Importantly , SolShare is suitable for retrofit projects as well as new builds , as it does
www . intelligentbuild . tech 65