Historic Lincoln Church installs solar panels
14/09
03/08/2009
St Denys Church, Sleaford has celebrated the installation of solar panels with a special service of dedication led by the Bishop of Lincoln Dr John Saxbee.
St Denys' Church, the parish Church of Sleaford, is the home of a vibrant Christian community who are happy to host a wide range of secular community activities, from concerts to Mums and Toddlers and the local Historical Society as well as serving as a place of worship. The church building is a Grade 1 Listed Ecclesiastical Building which dates back to the 12th century.
The Church of England's ‘Shrinking the Footprint' campaign encouraged the community at St Denys' to investigate ways of increasing their energy efficiency and contribution towards reducing carbon emissions
The installation of photovoltaic panels in 2005 on St James's Church in Piccadilly, was inspirational and the PCC enthusiastically passed a resolution that St Denys investigate whether such technology was appropriate on their church building.
The investigation revealed that the electricity generated in this way will make a contribution to reducing carbon emissions and is therefore in line with the ‘Shrinking the Footprint' aim of a reduction of 40% by 2050. At a parish level it will make an immediate contribution to the running costs of St Denys' as at the very least all electricity generated by the panels and not immediately used in the church will be sold back into the grid reducing the financial burden of growing energy bills on the parish.
Crucially, it was recognised that such an installation would be a powerful witness to the Church of England's commitment to stewardship at both a local, regional and possibly wider level in line with the ‘Shrinking the Footprint' campaign.
In July 2008 advice was sought from the Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches (DAC) and from English Heritage and both specified that any panels must not damage the visual appearance of the church, nor must any damage be done to the fabric when fixing the panels to the church.
Solar panels need to be orientated towards the light and fortunately the South Aisle roof at St Denys' has a pediment which stands some 900mm high so by keeping the panels below the parapet height they would be invisible from ground level.
However, initial advice was that to achieve maximum efficiency the panels should be tilted at between 30-40 degrees. This would have meant that the panels would have been visible over the top of the parapet and would compromise the visual appearance of the church. As the investigation continued it was discovered that, at our latitude, we could lay the panels flat on the South Aisle roof and only loose 4% efficiency which was judged to be a price worth paying.
This raised the problem of how to fix the panels to the traditional lead roll roof. Previous installations where solar panels cannot be attached directly to the building to avoid damage to the fabric had used large, plastic boxes filled with ballast so they would be secure and attached the panels to the boxes.
The box system has the disadvantages that they would have raised the panels above the parapet height and that they are very heavy so fewer panels could be supported by the roof.
A Structural Engineer was engaged to assess that the South Aisle roof was a practical location for the proposed installation and a detailed brief was prepared and agreed.
The PCC then invited installation companies to quote for the project. The BERR Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP Phase 2) 50% grant was only available through a small number of government approved companies based in the South of England. Despite this a Lincolnshire company, Freewatt Ltd was invited to quote as there was a desire to encourage and support the development of this technology in the county.
This was a fortunate decision as Julian Patrick of Freewatt Ltd came up with a solution to the problem of fixing the panels using the newly developed ‘Solstice' clamps which allowed the panels to be fitted on a lightweight frame no more than 300mm high. This also allowed more panels to be fitted as no ballast weight was involved and the panels could be placed closer together.
Beco Solar of Totnes, one of the government approved companies also showed an understanding of the issues with installing solar panels on a building like St Denys' so they were invited to collaborate with Freewatt Ltd on the installation works. In this way not only was the most efficient installation obtained, but access was given to the 50% LCBP grant.
The final plan was presented to the DAC, English Heritage and both North Kesteven District Council and Sleaford Town Council were sought on the visibility issues. The plan was received with enthusiasm by the local councils who both have a strong commitment to sustainability and renewable energy and by the DAC who were excited by the effective solution found to their requirements.
It was proposed that 54 x Sharp 180W monocrystalline solar PV panels were fixed in a horizontal orientation on St Denys' South Aisle roof
Cables carrying the DC electricity generated by the panels to the inverters is hidden in the Tower where it is converted to useable AC electricity which is then fed back to a distribution board at the foot of the Tower before following existing cable runs to the Main Consumer Unit the Sacristy on the North East of St Denys' church.
The PCC approved the project with enthusiasm, but sought other grants if possible and an application was made to the Lottery Community Sustainable Energy Programme who were pleased to award a grant of 45% describing it as, ‘A good example of retro-fitting solar PV on a historic listed church building.'
This project is not about saving money on the electricity bills at St Denys' church, this is merely a beneficial side effect. The main aim is to witness to a theological perspective on creation and the sustainable use of natural resources.
According to the approved, government formula this installation will save some 4.5 tonnes of carbon emissions per annum and has a guaranteed life expectancy of 25 years, but the actual life expectancy (with minor degradation of efficiency) is over twice this time.
To this end the installation will include equipment which continually monitors and records the performance of the Inverters. This data is then made available through the internet to anyone who wishes to log on from wherever they are. The opportunities this provides are many, but include:
i. A continuous display of the panels' performance anywhere with an internet connection.
ii. Easy access to the data in all six of Sleaford's schools for use in both curriculum and extra-curricular projects which are already in preparation via diocesan and regional education advisors.
iii. The opportunity to report regular and accurate data on the church website, in the parish magazine, local media etc.
iv. A display panel in St Denys' church showing a continuous display of what is being generated at that moment and the cumulative saving of carbon emissions since installation. This site has been selected as it will be clearly visible from the hospitality area where teas and coffees are served and because it can be mounted there without any damage to the fabric of the building.
v. The experience gained at St Denys' is being made available to all who are interested and already two other churches in the Diocese of Lincoln are at an advanced stage in preparing their own plans for solar PV. Conferences demonstrating not only solar PV, but other sustainable technologies appropriate for church buildings are being prepared by the team at St Denys' in association with the Diocesan Environmental Chaplain.
Both Sleaford Town Council and North Kesteven District Council are running campaigns to encourage sustainable use of resources in the area and both Sleaford Town Council's Development Officer and the Sustainability Officer for NKDC were enthusiastic at the potential for this project to be a witness for sustainable energy that could be used by them in their campaigns.
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