Exemplar programmes from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) such as the PV Field Trials allowed researchers to analyse the effectiveness of PV systems in the UK. Measurements were taken at 5 minute intervals over a 2 year period for a residential site in Nottinghamshire where 22 solar photovoltaic (PV) systems were installed to a new-build social housing project.

The data collected allowed the researchers to make sure the system was working as intended, assess the system design and monitor saves in both electricity bills and emissions. The results showed a reduction in CO² of 56% over a traditional mains only system.

Environmental technologies are not yet fully integrated into our current political system, so implementation can be problematic. These problems can be overcome by co-operative organisations who take matters into their own hands. These groups have a local knowledge which helps schemes develop at an appropriate scale and prevent an oppositional attitude which can occur when groups from outside the community try to intervene.

An example of this is the community owned wind turbine in Cilgwyn, were residents formed an energy concern and purchased a second hand turbine from Denmark. Each resident has a stakehold in turbine, and the project was such a success that they are looking to build another in the near future.

Renewable sources often suffer from control problems such as being reliant on favourable weather conditions. Bearing this in mind, this project looks at creating an optimal control strategy to maximise renewable energy use and minimise the need to import energy from the grid.

Using the Brook Hill Environmental Centre in Leicestershire as a test case, an algorithm was created to define an optimal control configuration which is updated on an hourly basis. The building has a biomass boiler, thermal stores, photovoltaic panels and water heaters, and they system allows these separate systems to act within a single adaptable system to respond to changes in environmental conditions.