Download this as a PDF

Ashton Hayes is a village located just outside Chester which introduced a carbon neutral project in january 2006. The aim is to encourage the community to consider how their actions impact on climate change and to see how simple changes can make a big difference. The village is aiming to become carbon neutral. Part of the educational process includes the involvement of the primary school and Solar Twin, together with Cheshire County Council have installed a solar thermal panel to provide hot water for the cleaner.

The panel is located at the school entrance and the installation incorporates an interpretation board with a digital thermometer read out allowing the children to understand how the solar thermal technology operates and to monitor the output as part of project work.

The installation

The installation comprised:

• South facing facade mounted panel with left hand pipe exits
• 5 Watt PV panel and low voltage pump
• Installation of an open vented hot water cylinder
• Installation of electric immersion element and 24hr timer

The panel is located in an area providing maximum exposure to sunlight without any shadows, whilst enabling school children to see the collector plate up close. The lower bracket was fitted to the wall using wall anchor bolts with a 20mm gap left behind the panel to allow debris to clear. The upper bracket was then fastened to the wall and secured with wall anchor bolts and the panel was then fitted between the two brackets.

Silicone rubber flow & return pipework was passed through Hep2O conduit and then insulated in armaflex HT pipe insulation.

The new open-vented hot water cylinder and header tank were installed in the adjacent cleaners cupboard. as the water quality in Ashton Hayes is very good the Solartwin system is connected directly onto the hot water cylinder, circulating the water the maintenance staff are actually using through the collector and back again. An immersion element is installed on a time to ensure the cylinder is heated above 60C across the winter months.

Education use

We have installed an interpretation board below the collector, which not only describes how solar thermal works but also displays the temperature within the hot water cylinder via PV powered digital thermometers. The thermometers are located at the top and bottom of the store to enable the children to monitor the water temperature before and after the water flows through the panel. The childrens findings are then logged and discussed as a group with teaching staff.