An On the wire story
A Coventry manufacturing centre is developing a large-scale demonstration of solar thermal energy at its Ansty Park campus in Coventry, with a £1.3 million installation intended to serve both heating and cooling needs.
The system at the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) will comprise 1,965 VirtuHOT collectors spread across 1,277 square metres of roof and deliver peak heat output of up to 786 kW. It forecasted an annual emissions reduction of 37 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. According to the MTC, that is comparable to the amount absorbed by about 1,400 mature trees in a year.
Unlike conventional solar photovoltaic panels, which produce electricity, solar thermal collectors capture sunlight as heat. At Ansty Park, the collected energy will feed an absorption chiller to cool the manufacturing research facility in summer.
The system is also intended to contribute to space heating and hot water throughout the year, with an 8,000-litre tank providing thermal storage. The project’s design therefore connects renewable heat to several building services rather than relying on a single end use.
The collectors are made by British firm Naked Energy, whose VirtuHOT product is designed for commercial and industrial applications. The company says the system can produce hot water at temperatures of up to 120°C.
The Manufacturing Technology Centre
The project is intended to serve as a practical reference for manufacturers considering renewable heat. The MTC, which has more than 900 employees across Coventry, Liverpool and Oxfordshire, is part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, established by Innovate UK.
Its research and industry links provide a setting in which the technology can be observed as part of a working manufacturing facility. The centre says the installation will reduce its own emissions while demonstrating a potential approach for other industrial sites.
Engineering and installation work is being carried out by SHEco Group.
Great British Energy and Barclays Climate Ventures have committed a combined £8.875 million to Naked Energy. Great British Energy says its £7.5 million contribution is intended to support a UK manufacturing facility, with the potential to create up to 40 direct skilled jobs and about 100 indirect roles.
The location of the proposed facility had not been settled when the investment was announced. Great British Energy described the funding as its first major investment in solar thermal.
Read about Naked Energy’s project at the British Library here.
References
Main reference: Sustainable Business Magazine [1]
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• This On the wire article was created using Noahwire AI and reviewed by CIBSE Journal’s editorial team
