On Friday, the E-Si team went to Sark for a training day and to carry out some general maintenance on our largest project there. The site is a free range chicken farm which aims to be self sustainable, supplying it's own vegetables and creating it's own energy.
It is the longest running project for the company and it's the perfect place for educating our Renewable Energy Engineers.
We arrived in Sark around 7.30am with a number of tools and parts needed for the days work.
We picked up some bikes from the Avenue Cycle Hire shop and headed to the site. Tools and parts were taken by tractor and met us there.
Our engineers arrived at the site and were given a tour and a brief history of the system by Paul Fletcher (CEO).
The E-Si team have been working on the site for a number of years updating the technology, adding to and maintaining the plant room.
A set of photo-voltaic panels generate electricity for the farm & charge up batteries specially housed within the plant room.
For hot water and heating, there is a Mitsubishi air-source heat pump which runs off the electricity provided by the batteries charged from the Solar PVs. Air source heat pumps use the cool air from outside and converts it into hot water. As the electricity is made from the panels, this method makes it completely clean from carbon emissions and fuel consumption such as oil, gas and coal.
Project manager Craig explains to Fionn and Seb some of the works to be carried out in the day.
Our electricians and hydronics engineers tended to the plant room and ensured everything was running smoothly, updating and cleaning things out where needed.
The day also gave room for our engineers to cross their disciplines. Renewable Energy Engineer Seb, who specialises in carpentry, was given the opportunity to learn and carry out some basic plumbing under the guidance of Liam.
Design aspects of the system and possible additions such as Wind power were discussed.
Richard, Paul and Dave discussed some of the technical and mechanical solutions that they would need to apply to adding turbines to the system.
Carpenter Seb installed some shelves to help with organisation within the plant room.
Maintenance and safety checks were carried out on the batteries.
The day served as great education and a valuable experience for the entire team. Each member was able to discuss and share their knowledge in their own specialisms. They worked together to gain greater understanding of the system and can take this on and apply it to each job we do.
Josh
