SPECIAL FEATURES BATTERY STORAGE, RENEWABLES AND RETROFITTING This month: Renewables news; LETI retrofit guidance; prefabricated utility cuboards Waste-crop PVs generate energy without sunlight The material can harvest UV light and convert it into visible light A new translucent solar panel which combines organic luminescent particles and solar film to create solar panels that generate energy, even when the sun doesnt shine has won the James Dyson Sustainability Award 2020. AuREUS, invented by Carvey Ehren Maigue (pictured), from Mapa University in Manila, the Philippines, is a material that can be attached to a preexisting structure to harvest UV light and convert it into visible light. The substrate that converts UV light into visible light contains organic luminescent particles, extracted from waste crops, that convert high-energy UV lightwaves to lower-energy visible lightwaves. The converted visible light is turned into electricity by photovoltaic films, which function in the same way as solar panels. Whether the sun is shining or it is cloudy, the material will generate electricity because the particles in it absorb UV light, causing them to glow. As the particles rest, they remove excess energy and this bleeds out of the material as visible light which can then be transformed into electricity. AuREUS has the potential to turn more solar energy into renewable energy than traditional solar panels, and it can function fully even when not in direct sunlight. Testing suggests it can produce electricity 48% of the time, compared with 10-25% in conventional photovoltaic cells. Compared to conventional claddings that deflect UV light, the device can absorb UV light instead. I like to call it an inclusive design because it is capable of protecting people from UV, both indoors and outdoors, said Maigue. The material allows for the creation of vertical solar farms in urban areas, as the device doesnt need direct exposure to the sun to catch UV light. Maigue is looking to develop it for use beyond windows and walls, such as fabrics and embedded into cars, boats and planes. Conversion to AuREUS tech at the Montreal Convention Centre will unlock an additional 18kW power asset Scottish homes take lead on hydrogen use Hundreds of homes in Scotland will become the first in the world to rely completely on hydrogen for heating and cooking. The 300 homes, in Fife, will be fitted with free hydrogen boilers, heaters, and cooking appliances for four years in a test project that could then be rolled out across the UK. They will begin to receive green gas from the end of 2022, at no extra charge, and up to 1,000 homes could eventually be included, depending on how this first phase goes. The trial is supported by the energy regulator Ofgem, which has awarded 18m to the gas distribution company SGN to develop the project, with a further grant of 6.9m from the Scottish government. Ofgem will also fund a 12.7m project by the National Grid to carry out offline hydrogen trials using old gas-grid pipes, to test the safety of transporting hydrogen gas across the UK. Heat-pump plan needs training boost The Prime Ministers hugely ambitious plans for heat pumps must be backed by a major training programme and comprehensive technical support, according to manufacturer Lochinvar. Heat pumps were highlighted by Boris Johnson as a key technology for delivering many of the governments decarbonisation goals, and he wants the industry to be installing 600,000 a year by 2028. The Committee on Climate Change had already set a target of one million a year by the 2030s, towards an eventual total of 19 million, to achieve the governments 2050 net-zero target. According to the Heat Pump Association (HPA), however, just 30,000 were installed in 2020, with 70,000 expected in 2021. Industry estimates suggest more than 17,000 new heat-pump installers will be needed over the next decade if the governments targets are to be met. The Prime Ministers faith in heat-pump technology is a huge morale boost for the industry, said Lochinvars sales director, Liam Elmore. However, we are going to have to scale up very fast to turn vision into reality. As well as recruiting more people, there will need to be much better awareness of how the technology works, to ensure installations continue to achieve high performance and reduced carbon emissions throughout their operating life, Elmore added. Rural heat network gets go-ahead Planning permission has been granted to build Englands first rural heat network and local renewable energy centre in a Cambridgeshire village. The project, at Swaffham Prior which currently has 300 homes that are reliant on oil heating aims to save more than 47,000 tonnes of carbon emissions over the lifetime of the energy centre. It will deliver hot water around the village in a 7km network of pipes, heated by 135 ground source heat pumps. A large air source heat pump will supplement the energy extracted from the ground, and solar panels will provide renewable electricity to run the heat pumps at the energy centre. More than 160 homes have signed up and installation costs will be covered by a government grant, with bills expected to be similar to paying for oil. Work is anticipated to start by summer. www.cibsejournal.com January 2021 39 CIBSE Jan21 pp39 Renewables News.indd 39 18/12/2020 14:54