the sun & solar energy
Our planet revolves around the sun; without the sun we would have no daylight and there would be no life on earth as we know it.
Sunshine literally lights up our lives. It is also a necessary factor in maintaining healthy living conditions in our homes and offices. A house without sunlight is a dark and depressing place. In her book Chasing the Sun Linda Geddes writes that ‘work-place light is on average ten times less bright than outside even on the gloomiest day’. The way we experience light has changed. We spend 90% of our lives indoors, often with little exposure to natural light and too much exposure to blue light from electronic screens. As humans most of us naturally crave the warmth and energising properties of the sun. Tuning ourselves into the rising and setting of the sun is an invigorating and natural way to align our bodies with this energy. We are atomic beings, designed by nature to connect with this solar force.
solar energy is free
it is s one of the ‘clean’ and natural energies now accepted as necessary for the sustainable future of our planet. The environmentalist Tony Juniper and architect Michael Pawlyn cite some thought provoking facts about the sun. Juniper suggests that ‘one hour of sunlight hitting the earth is roughly equal to the planet’s annual energy consumption’. Michael Pawlyn believes that ‘if we built concentrated solar power plants in just 5% of the world’s deserts this would be enough to provide all our energy needs’. Perhaps the sun holds more answers to our problems than we know.
Using the earth’s finite resources such as oil, coal and gas is not a sustainable option for the future. Solar and other green energy sources will move us towards a less carbon intensive society. The 2015 Millennium Development Goals set a global target to reduce greenhouse emissions by 2 degrees. The UK was the first country to set a legally binding carbon budget, creating 80% reductions by 2050. Regardless of whichever Government policy is being touted - their interests are so often linked to economies - each one of us on this planet now has the responsibility to push towards a fuel agenda which is solidly in alignment with nature.
what can I do?
switch to a green energy supplier is a good step for the present and in time consider installing photovoltaic panels which convert sunlight directly into electrical energy. A solar hot water system can similarly meet the hot water demands of a building. For new builds this is an easy option. To convert older houses is costly; architects working on the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership are insulating the solid masonry walls of an old telephone exchange, paving the way for new approaches. The overriding factor remains that we alone hold the responsibility to restore the natural equilibrium of the planet for our children.
At the Healthy House, an all-electric house, I used simssolar.co.uk as adviser and installer. A few years in I’ve learnt that an all-electric house is not cheap to run, even with solar panels. The key to being all electric is a high standard of insulation, higher than current building regulations specify. The new healthy house will be built in 2022 to Passivhaus standards of insulation – using an air source heat pump and MVHR - mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system - this will create a constant temperature and clean air throughout the house. This is easily achieved on a new build and can be retrofitted to an existing house. Passivhaus statistics show that for a 100 sq metre house the heating bill over a 25 year period is estimated at £28,462.00, whereas the same house over this period fitted with Passivhaus insulation would cost out at £4,744.00. Both solar energy and Passivhaus insulation require a substantial investment, but if you are prepared to do this the benefits are not just for you and your home, but most importantly now for the planet too.
bring on the sun
L. Geddes (2019) Chasing The Sun
T. Juniper (2016) What’s Really Happening to Our Planet
M. Pawlyn (2019) Biomimicry in Architecture
Carbon budgets - UK Parliament
Lighting at work - HSG38 - HSE
www.hse.gov.uk › pubns › books ›
S. Read (4th Edition 2017) Ecohouse
J. Cotterell & A. Dadeby (2012) The Passivhaus Handbook
The RIBA Journal (December 2021) pp.42-44. Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership – description of retrofit.