Thirty years ago, a quiet suburban street barely noticed the start of a revolution being built on its doorstep.
A house constructed in 1995 was the first in Britain to incorporate a solar roof and would set the agenda for domestic renewable energy.
Earlier this month, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the “vast majority” of new build homes in England will be required to have solar panels.
Key pioneers and figures from Britain’s solar energy community have gathered to mark the 30th anniversary of the Oxford Ecohouse that led the way.
Leading the way doesn’t come cheap.
The first ever solar roof cost Prof Sue Roaf £28,000 to build. With no planning regulations at the time that addressed such a construction, the build proved particularly challenging.
She told the BBC: “To build this house, I had so much help from the industry because they bought into the vision.
“The idea that with the ordinary family home you could have a decent, ordinary life and have very little footprint on the planet.”
Despite the challenges the build was a success. In 2023 – the six-bedroom home produced a total for gas and electric of 562 kg CO2 which is 2.4 kg CO2 per meter square per annum.
“We were seen as living the ordinary life but just slightly differently,” she said. “It was the solar life.”
Read more: BBC
