Solstice thoughts

This was written a few days ago, before Christmas and before i started on the blog. It is a far cry from Policing the inner cities and will give an insight to my new life. Enjoy.

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As it's the winter solstice today, i thought it a good day to reflect on the previous year and how far we have come with the business.

This time last year, the PV panels were on the main shed roof and because it faces East North/East, they were not doing much. More so due to the shade from the telegraph pole! Well, it was over the Christmas period that I had a word with Gordon, the woodman, and he started on the new Solar Shed.

Built to personal spec and at a perfect angle and facing due south, things have certainly improved with regards to how much energy I'm now generating. Having my own system at home, on the sheds, means that customers can now come back to our house and see for themselves how powerful the sun is.

The house has a PV pumped Thermal solar hot water heating system and customers can see for themselves how easy it is rid themselves of fossil fuel for heating water. We have reduced our oil use to next to nothing during March - Oct and very little in the winter on clear days. We only use fossil fuel for water heating when the heating is on, to top up what the sun has given us free of charge.








With regards to the Solar Shed, it is a comfortable environment for people to come and try before they buy. Or even just to pop in for a chat and a cuppa to discuss how to reduce energy use without loosing any comfort.

The Solar Shed has become a business in its own right and its not quite one year old yet so the dream of living the country and working from home is almost complete. I take appointments from a national company and all customers get the opportunity to come back and have a look during the cooling off period which allows them to take a more measured approach to the whole sales process. After all, Solar is not cheap and neither should it be considering what it does.





I've placed some simple signage out the front gate for passers by to see when we're open and had 10,000 leaflets printed and slowly delivering them to neighbouring villages and neighbours of customers when i make a sale. Occasionally I find customers who do not want or can not have panels on their roofs, so bringing Gordon in to design a bespoke shed for them helps. To date we have designed three solar sheds. One for me, one for a very green customer in North Norfolk who has water harvesting features, wood storage and an enclosed area for mowers and the like and the third for a customer with a listed property who wanted a car port for their electric vehicles. So, all in all a good year.




Inside the workshop, we have a few shelving racks and sell solar powered lights. Garden lights, security lights and torches as well as briquette makers for open fires and water harvesting equipment. Water is high on peoples agendas, and by designing personal solutions rather than off the shelf products, we can provide a very good, high end service.



As business has been good, we have also been able to assist others and proud to be sponsors of two football teams. The first is Dulwich Hamlet Supporters FC and the other is Wiggenhall FC who play in the neighbouring village. We also contribute to Solar Aid which is charity that sets up small solar businesses in the emerging world. They show people how to convert kerosene lanterns into solar lights with all the obvious benefits.

The Solar Shed won the Eco Shed category in the Nation Shed of the Year comp' sponsored by Cuprinol and I am delighted to say I have been placed in the Eco Build top 100 influencers for sustainable buildings.

Who knows where next year will take us. First step is to get the web site up and running and hopefully reduce the mileage I do and concentrate on the working from home angle. So, a good year all round. Here's to the next one. You can follow me on twitter @TheSolarShed