The SOLCER house, located near Bridgend in Wales, is the first energy self-sufficient house in UK. This is a project of the SOLCER team in collaboration with the Welsh School of Architecture and the University of Cardiff.
The SOLCER house is the house of the future because it produces more energy than it needs. The energy not used is stored for later uses, or to sell/give it to the neighbours.
Built within 16 weeks at an affordable cost (only €1,433 per square meter), the eco-friendly house derives its power supply from a renewable energy source, giving a zero-carbon performance, and uses local materials (Km 0) such as the Welsh wood, reducing carbon emission for transportation of building materials. The SOLCER team has been able to create not only an energy self-sufficient house, but also a comfortable, and aesthetically nice home for a mono-family.
But how does this house work?
To reduce the energy demand, the house was built with a high level of thermal insulation, reducing heat loss. It uses low-carbon cement, LED lights, structural insulated panels, A+ devices, and low-emissivity double-glazed alluminium-clad timber frame windows and doors.
The south-facing roof of the house is covered by glazed photovoltaic solar panel, which is fully integrated with the design of the house, allowing the space below the roof to be naturally lit, and also generates electricity for the house. The energy not used is stored in a 6.9 KWh battery, located under the roof.
Transpired solar collectors (TSC), located on the facade of the house have a perforated coating on the exterior that draws air in the cavities, and heats it through the rays of the sun. It then arrives in the house as a low-cost means of heating via ventilation.
This is how SOLCER house creates energy without damaging the environment. It is neither a complex nor an expensive way of building. It is just the new way houses should be built.
After realizing the problems caused by what they have done in the last decades and what they are still doing to the Earth, humans are starting to think in a different way, a more sustainable way, which hopefully will become the only way in the near future. This is not because it is the only choice left, but because we want to make that change to save us forever.
Viola Follini
La Cultura del Bloggo 