News and Insight
See-through solutions for saving energy
The Sunday Business Post
Over the last four decades, CareyGlass has become an international leader in the development and manufacture of glazing from its headquarters in Nenagh, Co Tipperary. The company has also firmly established itself as one of Ireland’s leading providers of innovative, energy-saving solutions.
Innovation
The key to its continued success is its ability to innovate and cater for trends as they unfold. CareyGlass is recognised as the market leader in glass processing and double-glazed unit manufacturing in Ireland, but it is also an acknowledged specialist in solar thermal systems, grid connected photovoltaic (PV) systems and other energy-saving innovations for home and business.
"For over 44 years, CareyGlass’s performance and growth have been built on a foundation of excellent customer service, solid investment in the best people, facilities and research and development," said Evelyn Carey. "Our reputation depends on these factors."
Solar Thermal Solar Systems
CareyGlass is involved in the design and installation of solar thermal systems and has grown to become a market leader in its field.
"CareyGlass has already accumulated 20 years of international experience in designing and operating solar systems," Carey said. "This background and expertise means we are at the forefront of the energy provision revolution.
"Already, a huge number of homes and businesses in Ireland are using CareyGlass solar systems, and they are saving considerable amounts of money in doing so, as well as fully appreciating the cleanliness of our leading-edge technologies."
Grid Connected Photovoltaic Solar Systems
CareyGlass also designs and installs photovoltaic (PV) systems for domestic and commercial properties. "With the introduction and incorporation of an ESB Smart Meter, a PV system can generate 100 per cent of a household’s electricity requirements," Carey said.
"A household can optimise the use of electricity generated by the PV array. Any excess energy produced will be exported to the grid, to be offset by energy imported from the grid during hours of reduced daylight. Intelligent PV tracking systems constantly adapt the angle of PV modules and ensure full exposure to the sunlight, thereby resulting in an increased yield of 35 to 45 per cent."
Heat Pumps
Heat pumps are another energy cost-saving innovation that many homes and businesses are turning to. The CareyGlass heat pump works by extracting heat energy from a low-temperature source and upgrading it to a higher temperature so that it can be used for space and water heating. Heat pumps turn homes into low-maintenance, cost-saving, ecologicallybeneficial domestic units.
"Overall energy reduction is guaranteed by extracting heat from natural sources: there is less consumption of fossil fuel-fired energy and electricity," Carey said. "Lower heating bills are achieved, and your home will have substantially less greenhouse gas emissions. We understood the importance of bringing glass into the 21st century, by making it contribute substantially to the energy saving value of a property.
Solar Control Glass
"One of our leading glass products is solar control glass. This glass can be an attractive feature of a building, while at the same time minimising, or even eliminating, the need for an air-conditioning system. This reduces the running costs of the building and saves energy. Solar control glass can be used to minimise solar heat gain, and it helps to control glare."
Keep Cosy with CareyGlass and CareyGlass Joinery
A construction with top hung casement windows triple glazed with facial astrical bars and an overall window uvalue of 1.01.
Bearra, Co. Galway
Structural supports clad in handcrafted ornate wood design, cream colour to match in with surroundings. Wooden facia with integrated lighting. Roof glazing is a bespoke integrated solar controlled glazing to timber framing with WallGlass structural bolted IG units. As part of the design there is nowhere that water can sit as all potential flat surfaces have a 7deg angle turning off water.
All bespoke designs - manufactured in Co. Tipperary, Ireland for the Irish climate
Windows – A rated in both double and triple glazed
Specifications
- Certified insulation values
- Top quality hand picked timbers
- Elite Vista Therm Double glazed u-value 1.1 - argon warm edged spacer bar
- Elite SE Triple glazed glazed u-value 0.7 – krypton warm edge spacer bar
- Full colour range in bothWood and Alu-clad
Casement – Stormproof and Flush
- Tilt and turn
- Reversible
- Slide and sash – spring balance and weights and pullies
- Aluclad
Doors
- 46 and 58mm leaf thickness
- Open in and open out
- Double and single doors
- Sliding and bi-fold doors
- Stable doors
Flagship Ard Aoibhinn Exceeds Regulations...and Expectations
Ard Aoibhinn is a stunning 52 home development with high-class specifications which is certain to be a flagship development by the Fleming Homes in the years to come.
Innishannon, Co. Cork
The energy efficient homes at this development in Innishannon, Co. Cork, were specified to standards exceeding the minimum requirements of the Building Regulations 2005 Part L. The specifications include exceedingly good levels of thermal insulation in walls, floors and roofs, low value windows and also low value Vista Therm Roof Windows.
Decreased energy bills
The superior, sustainable, low elemental wall U-value properties in these homes are due to the 'Fusion Therma Shield 162' external wall panels, supplied by Fusion Building Systems as part of their light gauge steel frame structural wall and flooring system. Fleming Homes incorporate 'Fusion Therma Shield 162' in their developments to deliver premium, robust, highly energy efficient homes that will help to decrease energy bills and CO2 emissions, thus reducing occupiers' personal carbon footprint.
A typical Fleming Homes energy efficient home benefits from hot water and space heating provided by a combination of a high efficiency condensing oil boiler and a roof mounted solar thermal system by CareyGlass Solar.
The solar thermal systems work automatically. Each home owner will always hot water at the required temperature, whenever required. In summer, almost all hot water needs are met by the solar system, the rest of the year it pre-heats the water so that the boiler only tops up to the required temperature. During winter months, the system will only function when the cylinder temperature is lower than the panel temperature this avoiding a cooling effect on the cylinder.
Each home owner can expect the majority of their hot water requirements between March and October.
Lowest energy house in Ireland has been built using CareyGlass products
Patrick Daly has built a house that generates more energy than it uses.
Clonkill, Co. Westmeath
Nothing focuses the mind like a target. The growing impact of Building Energy Ratings (BER) is increasingly encouraging Irish people to aim for the highest energy rating they can. Patrick and Niamh Daly's house in Mullingar takes this trend to the next level, using a myriad of sustainable green materials and technologies to become a net energy producer and go beyond the limit of the BER scale. John Hearne visited the nearly completed house to find out more.
A solar thermal array is the primary source of domestic hot water.
Under both DEAP and PHPP methodologies, total space heating design load is 10 W/m2, giving a total of 2.7kW. With space heating requirements so low, the biggest energy demand in the house is hot water. The solution is 7m2 of evacuated tube panels, supplied and fitted by CareyGlass Solar. Daly explains that he chose evacuated tubes over flat plate panels in order to achieve maximum winter efficiency. "The roof is quite shallow in order to fulfil planning restrictions on height, which gives us a pitch of only 23 degrees." The optimal pitch for Irish latitudes is closer to 40 degrees. "So we've split our solar water system into two banks. We'll have a roof bank and a wall mounted bank to give us an average of 40 degrees. Between the two, we've got a reasonable orientation; it's slightly geared towards winter, because that's when we want to maximise solar gains." Stephen Smyth of CareyGlass Solar says that the split systems required an advanced solar controller in order to optimize their performance. "One of the reasons why the T12 and T18 systems we're installing are so efficient is because of the CPC backing on our tubes. This is a compound parabolic concentrator, which concentrates the sun's radiation levels at fairly diffused angles to the centre of the tube."
In a further innovation, excess heat generated by the solar thermal array during the summer will be used to charge the ground collector.
Hot water is maintained in a 500L dual coil solar tank.
The solar system has halved the hot water requirement
The Solar PV system is estimated to generate between 6,000 kWh and 6,500 kWh a year, which is effectively more than the annual energy load of the house, which is why it becomes energy positive. On the DEAP scale, we're way above the top bracket. If there was an A plus, this house would be there. It is between 25 kW/m2/a and 30 kW/m2/a in terms of BER score.
The PV system, also supplied by CareyGlass Solar is divided into two separate arrays of twenty panels each, with a combined peak load of 6kW and a total surface area in excess of 40m2. The house is grid connected to accommodate seasonal variations in supply; this is a zero / positive net energy strategy.
Rowan goes State of the Art
Renowned sculptor's home uses CareyGlass Solar PV Energy System
ROWAN GILLESPIE IS arguably Ireland's most internationally successful sculptor. His work is bought by collectors all around the world. His domestic commissions, from the Blackrock Dolmen to the Cashel Dancers, from Joyce and Yeats, to Famine on Dublin Quay, have been seen by millions. Yet surprisingly Gillespie still has a relatively low profile in Irish life.
Rowan Gillespie's house in South Dublin has a 3.3kWp grid connected photovoltaic (PV) system by CareyGlass Solar that is producing free and clean energy cost effectively. This PV system is generating 3,267 kW/h per annum. Rowan has a system that generates electricity 'on-site' (micro -generation) and is completely maintenance free. It requires zero fuel, produces zero emissions and generates no waste.
Intelligent Investment leads to Substantial Savings at the Claregalway Hotel
CareyGlass Solar has recently completed another successful project survey and system installation, on this occasion at the beautiful Claregalway Hotel just outside Galway City. The state-of-the-art solar thermal system installed could cut 25% off the hotel's domestic hot water bills
As a specialist in solar thermal and grid connected photovoltaic (PV) systems, CareyGlass Solar is Ireland's leading provider of innovative energy solutions. Many thousands of Irish homeowners and businesses have contacted CareyGlass Solar in recent times to enquire about our innovative energy solutions; those who have acquired a CareyGlass Solar system have made substantial savings in their energy costs and have also secured the peace of mind that comes with 'going green'.
One such wise investment is the recently finished work at the Claregalway Hotel in Co. Galway. "We carried out a survey on the Claregalway Hotel several months ago", Evelyn Carey of CareyGlass Solar explains, "and with these calculations we were able to offer a system that could shave a quarter off the hotel's DHW expenses. CareyGlass Solar has installed 12 high-spec C.P.P. panels in the hotel. The system is saving approximately 2000kw per week, which represents about 300 litres of gas that would otherwise have to be bought. The 12-panel C.P.C. system is mounted on a flat roof at the rear of the hotel facing south; 2 highly insulated pipes run to the boiler house and into a buffer storage tank, where the domestic hot water is preheated. An advanced pumping station controls the flow of the system best suited for hotel use, and all data is sent to the hotel manager via data cable."
In business for five years, the award-winning Claregalway Hotel is recognised as being the perfect base from which to travel around the west of Ireland. Paul Gill, Managing Director of the Claregalway Hotel, believes it is different from other hotels. "We have a gifted and dynamic team of staff that is committed to delivering the best experience to the customer. Our CareyGlass Solar investment will make us a more efficient and cost-effective business. It will also demonstrate how a hotel can provide a top-quality service while also working towards safeguarding the environment."
Making light work of energy efficiency
CareyGlass Solar's innovative solar systems are maintenance free, leaving the homeowner to enjoy their many benefits.
CareyGlass Solar is Ireland's leading specialist in solar thermal, grid connected and off grid photovoltaic (PV) systems. With 45 years experience in the construction industry and 20 years international experience designing and operating solar systems, CareyGlass Solar's team of experts can respond to even the most complex challenges.
The house pictured above features many of the systems more and more Irish consumers, architects and builders are specifying. Contrary to popular perception, these systems are maintenancefree, leaving the homeowner to enjoy their many benefits.
Minister Ryan Announces Incentives for Micro-Generation
Farmers and households to sell excess electricity back to national grid - First 4,000 will get guaranteed price of 19 cent a kWh - Plan will boost rural economy and reduce electricity costs
Dublin, 26th February, 2009
Energy Minister Eamon Ryan today announced measures to encourage the on-site generation of electricity in homes and farms across Ireland.
Among the measures is a guaranteed price of 19 cent per kilowatt hour of electricity produced. This competitive feed-in tariff will apply to the first 4,000 micro-generation installations countrywide over the next three years. Eligible installations include small scale wind, photovoltaic, hydro and combined heat and power.
Traditionally, the electricity network was designed to accommodate the flow of electricity from large centralised plants to customers dispersed throughout the country. Micro-generation at local level now introduces two-way flows to the electricity system. Local generators will have the ability to be paid by the ESB for electricity that is surplus to their own requirements and export it back to the national grid.
The new support price is being introduced along with a number of other measures in the Government's micro-generation programme including:
- Connection: An "Inform and Fit" connection policy to be introduced by ESB Networks to reduce the length of time and complexity of the connection process. Sustainable Energy Ireland also has clear information explaining the connection process.
- Grant assistance for R and D: This pilot study includes grant assistance for 40% of the cost of 50 trial units (of up to 50kW) countrywide. Applications are being accepted by Sustainable Energy Ireland.
- Planning exemptions: The Department of Environment has made small scale generation from low-carbon sources exempt from planning permission. The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources will continue to work with the Department of Environment on planning issues surrounding renewable energy installations.
Announcing the programme Minister Ryan said, "We are changing the rules and changing the nature of electricity generation in Ireland.
Before you received your power from a central source and paid for it. Now you can generate for yourself and be paid for the excess you don't use.
This type of on-site electricity generation will boost the rural economy. It will put more money into consumers' pockets. This type of long-term investment with a guaranteed return represents the best value for spending and lending.
All our farms and houses can be micro-generators. We can use our abundant natural resources to bolster the economy, create green-collar jobs and reduce carbon emissions at the same time.
Every year, we send €6 billion out of this country on fossil fuels. This type of generation will help reduce this dependence and this outflow of money. We do not want to be dependent on Russia or Saudi Arabia for our energy needs; we can supply our own."
Save the planet and your pocket with Carey's brilliance
CareyGlass Solar has 20 years experience in designing and operationg Solar PV Systems.
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Photovoltaic solar panels transfer sunlight directly into sunlight.Solar Thermal solar panels collect heat from the sun and uses it to help heat your water.
Air Source Heat Pumps absorb heat from outside to provide heating to radiators or an underfloor system.
Air Source Heat Pumps brochure(PDF)
Wood Pellet Stove brochure(PDF)
Samson Wood, a subsidary of CareyGlass produce Timber windows and doors. Their products are environmentally friendly and manufactured to the highest standards.
CareyGlass International are now producing Elite SE triple glazing units. These units greatly improve the energy rating of all windows.
NewScientist’s January 28 issue is likely to unsettle clean energy advocates — but it is worth the read.
The cover article, “Power paradox: Clean might not be green forever,” posits that even renewable energy can warm the planet, and eventually change climate, if we continue to ratchet up power production to serve our ever
It's easy to think about modules as singular units of power output, but the reality is that they are a collection of diverse components, each with influence over the end system's total cost and performance. For DuPont, its focus is of course on the materials side, from metallization pastes used to form contacts on the solar cell, to backsheet materials that protect the panels themselves.
The Obama Administration's $60 billion Loan Guarantee Program (LGP) for renewable energy is considered a failure because of Solyndra, Beacon Power, and potential 2012 bankruptcies. What is not well known is that 75 percent of the program's deployed funds went to relatively low risk power plants that will catapult the U.S. to a leadership role in the utility-scale solar sector. This is hardly the hallmark of a "failed program." The program is akin to Shakespeare's King Henry V, who said as a delinquent Prince: "I'll so offend as to make offense a skill, redeeming time when men think least I will."
In a series of deals the investor-owned utility says is good for consumers' wallets, American Electric Power subsidiary Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) recently signed long-term power purchase agreements for a total of 358.65 MW of capacity from wind projects in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
Miasolé says it has created a 17.3 percent "champion" thin-film copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) solar photovoltaic device, results obtained in its own labs and not (yet) independently verified.
Today the Obama administration moved forward with plans to develop the enormous offshore wind energy resources along the Mid-Atlantic coast, using a "Smart for the Start" approach designed to expedite the siting process while incorporating strong environmental protections.
By late February the renewable energy industry should have direction from the Ontario government on some of the major changes ahead for the province’s landmark feed-in tariff program. “I am hoping we will have an announcement then with the megawatt (MW) targets and pricing, then new rules and contracts in March, and application processi
You may have heard it before, but it is worth mentioning again: In residential communities, solar is contagious. But a recent study, "Peer Effects in the Diffusion of Solar Photovoltaic Panels," conducted by Bryan Bollinger of the NYU Stern School of Business and Kenneth Gillingham of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, published in December sheds some new light on the phenomenon.
Renewable energy in the United States is at a crossroads. With several federal tax grants set to expire by the end of 2012, utilities are trying to decide if the falling prices of solar and wind technology makes renewable energy competitive enough to invest in despite vanishing federal aid.
Wind energy is becoming one of the most widely used sources of renewable energy. In fact, according to the American Wind Energy Association, the wind energy industry has added more than 35 percent of all the new power generating capacity since 2007. As the industry grows in popularity, new developers continue to enter the market, and existing developers may likely expand their investments in wind farms.
Two reports out in the past week examine Europe's solar PV market in 2011, indicating slowing growth in the flagship countries and promise in some smaller regions for 2012 and beyond. Note that the data that follows is preliminary; final 2011 numbers won't be known until later in the first quarter, including some likely revisions thanks to a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter in several key regions (more on that below).
A recent report has generated lots of buzz by finding that as many as 50,000 jobs could be lost over the next three years if a 100 percent tariff is placed on Chinese solar panels. Yet from where I'm sitting, I see a far different number from the same report: The industry could add 15,000 jobs by 2014.
Twenty years ago, international leaders descended on Brazil to lay the groundwork for what would eventually become the Kyoto Protocol. This summer, a 20-member United Nations panel will once again head to Rio de Janeiro with an even more ambitious agenda.
Due to growing urbanization and resulting environmental threats, China has invested nearly US$50 billion annually into its renewable energy sector since 2009. China's five-year investment in environmental protection is on track to reach 3.1 trillion yuan (US$454 billion). By 2015, its environmental protection industry is expected to top 2 trillion yuan (US$317 billion).
Nine years from now, in early 2022, the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard will have reached its intended target, 36 billion gallons of biofuel blended into the U.S. domestic auto and truck fuel supply.
Concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) is an upcoming renewable market that promises to provide cost-effective power generation at high levels of efficiency. The performance of a CPV system is dependant on the direct normal irradiance (DNI). Because of this major performance parameter, the number of regions ideal for CPV system installations is limited. According to Prof. Humayun Mughal, the potential market destinations based on DNI for the CPV technology are Southwest US, Mexico, Chile, Southern Peru, Southwest Bolivia, Northwest Argentina, and Mediterranean countries, Australia, North Africa, Middle East, Western India and Western China.
With developers having made their final end-of-year push through the last day of December, the January ritual of announcements concerning new projects entering commercial operation and new PPAs kicking in continued this week.
Earlier this month, I attended EUCI’s Utilizing Clean Power Development Conference in Philadelphia. The conference attracted a variety of large institutions (hospitals, municipalities, universities, etc.), developers, and financers to discuss the opportunity and challenges surrounding deployment of on-site renewable energy. Instit
North America is at an inflection point in managing organic materials. Just as paper, metal and plastics were the darlings of the recycling industry a couple decades ago, our society is defining a new relationship with organic materials: one that harnesses the full carbon, energy and nutrient potential of organics. In order to help shape that new relationship, industry leaders are cultivating North America's awareness and understanding of anaerobic digestion's features, benefits and potential role in society.