CARBERY Housing Association (CHA) has announced that tenants in four houses retrofitted with solar panels, battery storage, storage heaters and smart meters are already saving money on their energy bills, as well as reducing their carbon footprint by as much as 80%.
The measures were introduced by the Skibbereen-based approved housing body, under an EU-funded pilot project ‘Red Wolf.’
The project was launched in February at an event in Cecas at Leap.
The innovative domestic energy system, consists of solar PV panels, storage heaters and a battery, all controlled by an algorithm which decides when to draw electricity from the different sources (including the grid) choosing the least carbon-intensive option in any given moment.
Tenants are already seeing a significant drop in their energy bills and are also benefiting from additional savings on their bill as any unused energy generated is sold back to the grid. CHA representatives Ana and José Ospina recently visited the tenants to ensure that they were happy with the new system.
‘We’re delighted with the system, it’s really simple to use and is already saving us money – our latest electricity bill was only €61 for the past two months. We are getting most of our hot water for free and we’re looking forward to cheaper heating costs next winter,’ said one tenant.
José Ospina said he believes that the Red Wolf system is a viable alternative to fossil-fuel based heating systems and superior to the heat-pump based retrofit approach.
The association is also in the early stages of delivering six social housing homes on Sherkin. The project has been approved in principle by Cork County Council.
‘The project is a turnkey project, which will be designed and built by a developer in consultation with CHA and the community. It will be sold to CHA for social housing on completion.’
