Although the shop has a need for electricity to power fridges and freezers, the amount we are able to contribute to our own electricity consumption is helping the community and the environment and keeping our electricity bill down.
Brockweir and Hewelsfield Village Shop and Cafe
The Solar Voltaic Roof
The solar electric tiles are made in groups of 333. These are known as shingles.
A group of shingles connected together are referred to as a string.
There are two inverters, which turn the direct current (dc) supplied by the solar electric roof into alternating current (ac) at 230V 50 cycles per second (50Hz), which is connected to the mains supply.
The one inverter is fed from 4 strings composed of 35 shingles. The other inverter is fed from 4 strings composed of 40 shingles.
This makes a total of 300 shingles. Each shingle has a maximum output in clear sun normal to the tiles of approximately 17 watts, the maximum theoretical output being 5100 Watts.
Since it started operating in 2005 the solar roof has generated in total about 29,500 kWh (as of March 2011
A graph showing the electricity generated by the roof for 2009 and 2010 can be seen here.