How can a building generate its own clean energy using renewable technologies?
Renewable energy technologies for buildings: solar photovoltaic and solar thermal, wind, heat pumps and biomass, and their advantages and limitations.
A CCEA GCSE Construction answer on the renewable energy technologies used in buildings: solar photovoltaic and solar thermal panels, wind turbines, heat pumps and biomass, with the advantages and limitations of each.
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What this dot point is asking
CCEA wants you to know the main renewable energy technologies that can be fitted to buildings, what each one provides (electricity or heat), and the advantages and limitations of each. Generating clean energy on site reduces the carbon and fuel needed to run a building, supporting sustainability.
The answer
What renewable means
The main technologies
How each one works and its trade-offs
Solar PV panels generate electricity whenever the sun shines. They are silent, need little maintenance, and produce free, clean electricity, but they only work in daylight, produce less on dull days and in winter, and have an installation cost.
Solar thermal panels heat water using the sun, cutting the energy needed for hot water. Like PV they depend on sunshine and provide less in winter, exactly when more hot water is wanted.
Wind turbines generate electricity from a free resource, day and night when it is windy. However, output depends on the wind, so they produce nothing when it is calm, they can be noisy, and they need an open, windy site, which makes small turbines less suitable for many houses.
Heat pumps move heat rather than burning fuel, so they are very efficient, delivering several units of heat for each unit of electricity used. They run on electricity (which can itself be renewable) and produce no carbon on site, but they cost more to install and work best with a well-insulated building and low-temperature heating.
Biomass boilers burn wood, which is renewable and roughly carbon-neutral if the trees are replanted. They provide reliable heat on demand, but need fuel deliveries and storage space and still produce some emissions when burning.
Worked example: choosing technology for a rural house
Examples in context
- Example 1. Solar panels on a roof
- A south-facing roof fitted with PV panels generates electricity for the house during the day; any surplus can be exported to the grid. On a dull winter day output is lower, so the house still draws some power from the grid.
- Example 2. An air-source heat pump
- A well-insulated new house uses an air-source heat pump instead of a gas boiler. It draws heat from the outside air even in cold weather and delivers it to the heating and hot water, using far less energy than direct electric heating and producing no carbon on site.
- Example 3. A biomass boiler on a farm
- A farm with space to store fuel uses a biomass boiler burning wood chip. It provides reliable heat, and because the wood is replanted it is roughly carbon-neutral, though deliveries and storage are needed.
Renewable technologies work best alongside an energy-efficient building: insulate first to cut the demand, then meet the remaining, smaller demand with clean energy. Together, energy efficiency and renewables can make a building close to carbon-neutral to run, the goal of sustainable construction.
Try this
Q1. What does a solar photovoltaic (PV) panel produce? [1 mark]
- Cue. Electricity from sunlight.
Q2. Give one advantage and one disadvantage of a wind turbine on a house. [2 marks]
- Cue. Advantage: clean electricity from a free resource. Disadvantage: produces nothing when calm and needs a windy, open site.
Q3. State why a heat pump is an efficient way to heat a building. [1 mark]
- Cue. It moves heat from the air or ground rather than burning fuel, giving several units of heat per unit of electricity used.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of CCEA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
CCEA style4 marksName two renewable energy technologies that can be fitted to a house and state what each one provides.Show worked answer →
Any two technologies with the correct output:
- Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels: generate electricity from sunlight.
- Solar thermal panels: heat water using the sun's energy.
Other acceptable answers include a wind turbine (generates electricity from wind), a heat pump (extracts heat from the air or ground to heat the building), and a biomass boiler (burns wood pellets or chips to provide heat).
Markers reward one mark for each correctly named technology and one mark for stating what it provides.
CCEA style6 marksExplain one advantage and one disadvantage of using solar panels, and one advantage and one disadvantage of a wind turbine, on a house.Show worked answer →
Solar panels: an advantage is that they generate clean, free energy from sunlight with no fuel cost or carbon while running; a disadvantage is that they only work in daylight and produce less on dull days and in winter.
Wind turbine: an advantage is that it generates clean electricity from a free resource, day and night when it is windy; a disadvantage is that output depends on the wind, so it produces nothing when it is calm, and it can be noisy and need a windy, open site.
Markers reward one mark each for a valid advantage and disadvantage of solar and of wind, up to six marks.
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