{"id":20118,"date":"2020-05-08T08:39:32","date_gmt":"2020-05-08T06:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/?p=20118"},"modified":"2025-06-11T12:46:04","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T10:46:04","slug":"off-grid-solar-provides-air-source-heating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/08\/off-grid-solar-provides-air-source-heating\/","title":{"rendered":"Off-Grid Solar provides Air Source Heating"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unexpectedly, one of the biggest challenges of\u00a0Vanessa and Bruce Jones’s self-build project became: how to provide their home with electricity?<\/p>\n

The nearest grid connection was 500m away …but from there it had to cross neighbouring land. Negotiations to bury cable under land they didn’t own failed, which seemed to leave them with just one alternative – paying the local energy provider more than \u00a3100k to provide them with a connection via the road.<\/p>\n

Two years of uncertainty ended when Ian Hewson<\/em> of Off Grid Engineering<\/a>\u00a0was able to reassure them that a private off-grid energy system, based on Photovoltaic panels, could provide them with all the energy they needed, summer and winter alike, for their five-bedroomed house – which is heated by Air Source Heat Pump.<\/p>\n

Vanessa and Bruce, along with their 2 children Rory and Freya, had always dreamed of building their own home in the country.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Vanessa grew up in rural Somerset – so after living in London for a few years the family decided to make a permanent move to the countryside in 2006, where a long search for land eventually produced\u00a0a large field with a steel-framed cattle barn, in Dorset. They fell in love with its beautiful views, and the shape of the barn offered great potential to convert into a 5 bedroom home.<\/p>\n

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The home they have built seems both modern and yet traditional at the same time. Most importantly it sits comfortably in its rural surroundings.<\/p>\n

As for the electrics: Ian Hewson worked closely with the heating engineer to design a power system with sufficient capacity to keep the domestic heating operating throughout the shorter days of winter – and provide energy for all the appliances and conveniences of a large family home.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here is the system they have installed:<\/p>\n