Solar thermal device could be built into new social housing

Researchers at Ulster University’s Centre for Sustainable Technologies have recently tested their prototype SolaCatcher device that heats water and stores it at night.

Commercially available domestic solar thermal systems can provide about 60 per cent of total hot water at a capital cost of around £4,000. For more than 10 years, Dr Mervyn Smyth and Dominic McLarnon of Ulster University have been developing simple, low-cost alternatives for the UK market.

‘The existing distributed systems work fine — I have it in my own house — but you’ve got piping arrangements, control systems and pumps, which all add in additional cost, whether that be components or bringing specialist labour in, and you’ve got major disruption to your existing systems as well,’ said Smyth.

The team claims that SolaCatcher — a passive device — has an installation cost of around £500 and will produce between 15 and 20 per cent of domestic hot water over the same period.