Going solar
June 1st 2007

A housing association in Scotland is specifying Ferroli's new solar hot water heating system as part of an ambitious renewable energy initiative. Rutherglen & Cambuslang Housing Association, located on the south east periphery of Glasgow, is investing in a complete solar combi package from Ferroli, which combines Ferroli's Optimax HE 31kW condensing combi boiler and AquaSol storage cylinder with the latest slimline solar roof panels

To date, Ferroli solar systems have been successfully installed in 52 of the Housing Association's terraced and semi-detached properties, with a further 80 being considered for a second phase.The Association sees the project as key to its commitment to addressing fuel poverty by replacing old back boilers with more energy efficient units, as well as helping to reduce the carbon footprint of its housing stock. It will be monitoring tenants' heating bills over the coming year to assess the impact of the new solar systems.

David Anderson, director at the Rutherglen & Cambuslang Housing Association says,"We only began discussions with Ferroli around February this year, so the project has progressed very quickly thanks to the speed and efficiency of all those involved.The installations have gone very well so far and we've had excellent feedback from the tenants concerned, who will soon feel the benefit of lower fuel costs." Three contractors have been involved in the project. In one contract, CMBS, the Housing Association's local contractor in Rutherglen and a long-standing Ferroli installer, has completed 22 installations. Ferroli provided solar training for staff at CMBS."We've fitted thousands of Ferroli boilers on social housing contracts over the past 15 years, so it was just a matter of familiarising ourselves with connecting the AquaSol cylinder and solar panels," says managing director at CMBS, Peter McDonald.

The second contract awarded to Easy Heat Systems, based in Perth, covered 16 tenanted properties.The company deployed 15 BPEC-trained operatives on site and each installation took about two days, says contract manager, Jamie Glackin,"As these were some of the first Ferroli solar systems to be installed in the UK we worked very closely with Ferroli to ensure everything went smoothly." City Building (Glasgow) LLP, which evolved from the former building services department of the Glasgow City Council, was the third contractor.City Building had installed Ferroli boilers before, but was new to solar hot water systems.

Ferroli provided on-site advice and support to City Building's team, which installed solar systems in 14 homes."Ferroli took us through the whole installation process and we found it all very straightforward," comments Phil Bonner, operational manager at City Building (Glasgow) LLP.

The Rutherglen & Cambuslang Housing Association has specified Ferroli's solar combi solution for smaller DHW users.This consists of Ferroli's solar collector panels which pre-heat the water in an AquaSol cylinder.The water then flows through a Ferroli Optimax HE combi for thermal 'top-up'on demand. In full summer,water in the AquaSol cylinder may be hot enough to supply the DHW demand without the need to be topped up by the boiler.And even on cold, grey winter days, solar energy can reduce gas demand by 20% (and increase the DHW flow rate from the boiler).

Ferroli also offers a system for larger DHW users, whereby solar collector panels pre-heat the water stored in a Ferroli AquaCyl twin-coil cylinder by a primary heating coil - a Ferroli high efficiency boiler then 'tops-up' the water temperature via a secondary coil in the cylinder.

Commenting on the specification of Ferroli's solar hot water heating system by Rutherglen & Cambuslang Housing Association, Andy Gannon, Ferroli's National Sales Director says,"Solar combi is great for social housing: simple to fit alongside a new combi boiler, where it can help reduce carbon emissions, in line with government targets, and cut tenants' fuel bills.The success of this particular project also demonstrates Ferroli's commitment to supporting all parties in this type of contract to make sure everything runs smoothly.

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