Wanaka Sustainable Barn
Off-grid barn with office, kitchen for agricultural prep, and solar water pumping
Off-grid barn with office, kitchen for agricultural prep, and solar water pumping
Brief
- Off Grid
- Office
- 300 tree olive grove – needs 6 m3/day in summer • Kitchen for processing
- Space heating required
Response
- Portal Frame barn – inexpensive, quick to erect
- Insulated and heated with 8kw wood burner, 4kw wetback
- PV system – 2.4 kWp, delivers 4 kWh/day in June, 16 kWh/day in January
- Excess capacity in summer used to pump water, and heat potable water
- House Electricity use – estimated 3 kWh/day in June, 2.5 kWh/day in January
- Solar Water Pumping System – estimated 0.5 kWh/day in June, 4 kWh/day in January
- PV and Pumping system very affordable
- In depth simulations are in progress
- House and solar system will be built in early 2013, and monitored and reported on
Findings
- Commercial building design strategies like portal frames are cost competitive
- Photovoltatic systems can be very cost effective when summertime energy can be used for a productive purpose. This system could pump up to 18 m3/day during the summer [from 80m bore]
- No need to use solar thermal [solar hot water] systems that are likely to freeze
