Real Alternatives - experience

Members of the Real Alternatives team have worked on a range of projects from wind turbines between 1 and 850kW, solar thermal systems, heat pumps and biomass heating. A list of these projects is given below.

Biomass Boiler - Aqualibrium Swimming Pool, Campbeltown

Working with Argyll & Bute Council, a biomass boiler was developed. The boiler produces 80% of the building's heat demand while gas boilers automatically fire to meet peak loads or can take over if required. The wood fuel is supplied by a local sawmill who delivers the fuel 3 times a week. Funding was secured from HICEC to help pay for the capital costs. The annual running costs of the boiler are 40% less than burning gas.

Ground Source Heat on Islay and Jura

Working with the West Highland Housing Association, two building projects were developed that incorporated ground source heat pumps, utilising bore hole technology. Both projects are now successfully operating and providing affordable heat to twelve families and a progressive care centre.

Solar Hot Water for Oban Rugby Club

Eight square metres of panels were installed to pre-heat hot water that is then directed through instant gas water heaters for showers. The system operates so that the amount of gas required to heat the water is minimised during the summer months when the demand for showers is greatest and the sunlight is most available.

An Talla Wind Turbine - Tiree

This project involves a simple grid-connected 6kW Proven wind turbine. On windy days the electricity generated is fed into electric storage heaters to heat the hall, providing heat when the building needs it most.

Tiree Community Wind Turbine

This ongoing project involves the development of an 850kw wind turbine to generate revenue for the Isle of Tiree. The project involved feasibility studies, financial modelling, technical analysis, environmental studies and planning work.

Ardroy Outdoor Education Centre - Lochgoilhead

This project is another example of a good match between the energy generated and demand. All through the summer children and adults visit the centre to undertake outdoor activities and on their return they need a good shower. Vacuum tube panels are particularly suited to our climate as they absorb diffuse as well as direct sunlight. Funding for this project was granted through the SCHRI scheme through the Highlands & Islands Community Energy Company. We also assisted in the development of a small educational project that shows visiting children how renewable energy can work in practice. This wind turbine and solar panel charges a battery that operates a number of 12V lights and a computer.

The Dochas Art Gallery - Lochgilphead

This small gallery was built to a high insulation specification and good quality windows, maximising solar gain. The result is a building that requires very little heating; that needed is supplied by a 4kW ground source heat pump. The ground to the right hand side of the building supplies the necessary heat.

Domestic Solar Water Heating - Gigha

This project involved working with Fyne Homes, the local Housing Association, to incorporate solar panels with their development on Gigha. They wanted to make sure that the homes were built to a high standard and were inexpensive for the tenants. After moving in a number of people commented that after 2 months they hadn't had to turn their immersion heaters on once.

Solar Ventilation - Campbeltown

Again, working with a housing association, a project was developed using solar ventilation technology. Being super-insulated homes, condensation was considered to be a problem. The solution was to pre-warm incoming air using solar panels. The air first warms the domestic water by passing through a heat exchanger, before being forced through the internal envelope. The effect is warm fresh air being forced through the house taking any condensation away.

The Camas Centre - Mull

The Camas Centre is a remote activity centre that has traditionally operated without electricity. A project was developed so that the centre had enough power to run some basic requirements such as lighting and some electrical appliances. They also incorporated solar panels and wood burning stoves for hot water and space heating. A wind turbine was sited on a windy hill by the centre. It was deemed more practical to locate the wind turbine on this spot to benefit from the higher wind speeds even though it required extra cable runs and transformers to transmit the electricity the greater distance.

Developing the Initial Stages

Members of the Real Alternatives team have worked on a number of projects co-ordinating and developing the ideas and ambitions of the organisations involved:

Skate Park, Campbeltown

This required a feasibility study to determine what technology could be applied to light a skate park which was too far from the grid to run a cable.

Easdale Village Hall

The community of Easdale wished to reduce the heating costs of their hall. They also had ambitions to develop a project that would reduce the environmental impact of the energy used the by the people living on the island.

Islay hydro-study

The Islay Energy Trust was assisted in developing ideas for generating income using the island natural energy resources. A feasibility study was carried out on the potential for hydro on the island, particularly looking at water supply to the distilleries to determine whether it was practical to also use it for energy generation.

Tighnabruaich Forest Community

A concept was developed in partnership with the community to incorporate renewable energy into their forest community project. A study was carried out to determine the most suitable technology given the resources available within the area.