Location: Totton, Hampshire
Date: August 2010
Panels: 4x TiSun FA/6 solar thermal panels
Solar Fraction: 60%
Total installed area: 48m²
CO2 saving: 5500kg per annum

Overview:

Kings International College is an co-educational state school of approximately 700 students. The school has put considerable energy saving measures into place over the last few years but still have very high energy bills. Having a large kitchen that is used by the school and the local community means that there is a very high demand for hot water, so Kings School contacted Southern Solar to see if solar thermal could be used to reduce their dependency on expensive oil.

Our solution:

Pictured (two large Tisun thermal stores) 

The schools oil boilers were relatively new and not due for replacement therefore Southern Solar designed a system that would work with the boilers and considerably reduce the amount of oil used. Over 2 weeks 4 large TiSun panels covering an area of 48m² were installed on a south facing school roof. The panels feed heated water to 2 large solar preheat cylinders, the preheated water is then pumped into the existing hot water cylinders.  Preheating the water means that the oil boilers are only required to raise the temperature of the water by a few degrees. The solar should be able to provide 60% of the schools hot water needs. The graph below shows how much energy is expected to be provided by the solar throughout the year.

Yellow - Solar contribution
Orange - Total comsumption

A major consideration for schools is what to do with the hot water during the school holidays, a heat dump was installed that removed the heat during the holidays ensuring the system did not overheat; protecting the system and reducing maintenance.