Encraft
securing your energy future
homeowner

leicestershire farm

West Beacon Farm is a 50 acre farm in Leicestershire, located in rolling countryside. The owners Professor Tony Marmont and his wife Angela have installed a wide range of renewable energy technologies, making the property and associated farm buildings entirely grid-independent. Over a year, they generate nearly twice their annual electricity need, and have successfully run a small energy company by exporting the difference.

The 200 year old farm buildings have been converted into highly energy-efficient offices, adding a covered solar walkway and insulating walls floors and ceilings internally with 50mm insulation and plasterboard. They are heated using an air heating system and cooled in summer using solar-powered air conditioning.

Natural lighting is used wherever possible, with effective use of light pipes. Solar photovoltaic panels are incorporated in the glazing of the walkway, which also features adjustable louvres to control solar gain.

Both house and offices are self-sufficient in water, using a combination of rainwater recycling and purification, and a natural well on site. Sewage is also treated and recycled on site.

Electricity is generated from a combination of technologies: two 25kW wind turbines, two micro-hydroelectric plants, and a range of solar PV arrays. The micro-hydro units are driven from a small lake on the farm and a stream. The larger 3kW turbine uses a 20m fall from the lake to the valley floor. The stream provides a 2m head and drives a smaller 1kW generator.

Excess electricity is used to charge a battery array, and also to generate hydrogen with a 34 kw electrolyzer The hydrogen is stored on site in cylinders (4,000 kWh) and used to power two fuel cells to generate electricity when required to augment the wind, hydro and solar systems. Hot water is supplied by a heat pump (using heat from the lake) and by evacuated tube solar collectors, and space heating in the main house is provided by a propane-fired combined-heat-and-power (CHP) system.

The Marmonts have developed their property over 35 years – the conversion of the farm buildings into offices dates back 7 years, and the fuel cells are the most recent addition. The farm is now one of the world’s best examples of renewable energy use at domestic scale.

Images and site details courtesy of Professor and Mrs A. Marmont.
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