Who: Tim and Fiona Start

Where: Herefordshire

What: Solar PV

Size: 3 kW

Makes: 2300 kWh per year

Average equivalent saving: 1.04 tonnes of CO2 per year

Earns: £345 per year

THE STARTS’ STORY

In May 2006 Tim and Fiona Start installed a 3 kW solar array at their home in Herefordshire. Tim and Fiona love the rural setting in which they live and care for their environment. It’s difficult to have a small carbon footprint when you live in a Victorian house in a rural area, but they take simple, effective measures like walking, cycling and using public transport (but not flying).

They grow their own vegetables and buy local produce, preferring to shop locally and creatively (and secondhand where possible). They practice recycling and composting and opt against an overly warm centrally heated house - they heat their home with woodburners running on offcuts.

Since installing their solar panels the Starts have really begun to make big cuts to their carbon emissions.

“The roof on our house faces south. So we knew that solar panels would make the most of the sun’s energy. Our 3 kW array produces about three quarters of the electricity we have needed until now. The remainder is supplied by Good Energy which sources all its power from renewable generation. We hope also to install solar thermal panels, which will save a lot of electricity by significantly reducing the need for an immersion heater. A wind turbine might be on the cards as well, eventually.

“We believe that climate change is a threat to us all but we realise that there are so many things we can do to become part of the solution. Generating our electricity from solar power is just one way that we can really make a difference.”

Tim and Fiona Start