Ground Source Heat Pump and Solar PV Project in Somerset

The Project

Earlier this year we were contacted by a client who wanted to cut the running costs of his family home, and reduce their carbon footprint by eliminating their reliance on heating oil. Paul made a site visit to discuss their options, and it soon became clear that this would be an interesting and unusual project.

After more discussions, help and advice from Kensa Heat Pumps, and some excellent suggestions from the homeowner, Evergreen was able to come up with a suitable system design.

The Solution

There are two dwellings on the same site. This opened up the possibility of two Ground Source Heat Pumps being installed, both connected to a Shared Ground Loop Array, (SGLA). This arrangement allows the owner to apply for 20 years of Non-Domestic RHI payments from Ofgem.

The incoming electricity supply was upgraded from a single phase to a three-phase supply by Western Power Distribution.

The two dwellings were each provided with a Kensa 15kW Evo three-phase Ground Source Heat Pump, a 250-litre unvented hot water cylinder and 150-litre buffer vessel. Evergreen also carried out the necessary alterations and additions to the existing space heating systems and the upgrade of the electrical system.

Fortunately, this site had plenty of room for the required slinky trenches. The trenches were dug and the slinkies and header pipework installed. Sand was used to protect the slinkies and the trenches then backfilled (as seen in the images below).

Evergreen also designed and installed an 11.7kW ground-mounted solar PV system. This system consists of 36 all black monocrystalline modules, mounted on a ground mounting frame supplied and expertly installed by Chris Searle of Solar Frames South West, (inventor of the ‘Cornish Rocker’ mounting system). A three-phase SolarEdge inverter was then installed in the plant room.

Testimonial

"We used Evergreen for our renewables project. At the time, we were new to renewables technology, and our project was quite complex and it was a significant investment for us. Evergreen impressed me from the outset, with their knowledge of the renewable technology options available, their guidance on the different government incentive schemes and the approach they took to helping us determine a solution design. 

They particularly impressed with their full in-house capability to carry out the whole project. This meant that they could install our renewable solution without needing to bring in additional subcontractors, reducing the complexity for me to manage and reducing the disruption to us during installation. 

They helped us a lot at the design phase - and were very patient as our requirements changed! During the project scoping and the installation phase, the team on-site was always very professional and personable. Since the project has been completed, the after-care has been great. I'm a happy customer and pleased to recommend Evergreen!"

Another satisfied customer!