THE UK’s first solar house will be built in Leicestershire by the summer.
The property in Great Glen, in the south of the Midlands county, will gain all of its heating, hot water and electricity from solar panels and it is designed to be completely carbon neutral.
Experts from nearby De Montfort University (DMU) will monitor the building which will be totally reliant on the sun and should be completed by August this year.
Dr Andrew Wright from the Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development at DMU said: “The main aim of the project is to demonstrate to the building industry that it is possible to build housing that is Zero Carbon and still remains commercially attractive. The hope is that the house will be self-sufficient in energy for most of the year, only requiring support from the energy store during 10 weeks in the winter months.
He added the university would act as an independent assessor and communicate their findings with the public.
The house will be built by Caplin Homes and will use a heat pump to retrieve solar energy that was stored in the summer, to heat the house up in the winter.
Solar panels will also use the sun’s energy to heat the house itself and water, and should provide twice the electricity needed.
There will also be large numbers of south facing triple glazed windows.
Michael Goddard, a director of Caplin Homes, said “We are very excited to have been given the green light to build the Solar House and to demonstrate that Zero Carbon living can be achieved at reasonable cost.
“Our ambition is to prove to UK house builders that it is possible for them to build houses to these standards and to provide them with the means to do so. This will make a significant contribution to our country meeting its 2020 carbon reduction targets and enable householders to be set free from ever increasing energy bills.”
