Last updated 14:38, Tuesday, 12 August 2008

A MARYPORT company has become the only installer in Cumbria of a new solar-powered hot water system and created four jobs in the process.

HOT PROPERTY: Solar Solutions’ solar panels, installed by Blue Flame, are proving popular. Tim Kent, left, and Donald Johnstone are pictured at a house in Flimby where the new panels have been fitted

Blue Flame has had to move to a larger unit on the Solway Industrial Estate to cope with the demand.

Tim Kemp, boss of the gas engineering and plumbing company, has even installed the system in his own home on Church Road, Flimby.

He said it helps reduce fuel bills and a carbon footprint.

Mr Kemp said the system would wipe out the cost of water heating in summer and keep it to a minimum in winter.

Blue Flame, run by Mr Kemp and partner Dave Harrison, has become an installer for Solar Solutions GB Ltd, which is the sole importer of the Apricus system.

They say it will provide between 60 and 70 per cent of a household’s hot water needs and reduce the average household’s carbon footprint by more than 2,000kg a year.

Solar Solutions director David Blair said it is estimated the system will pay for itself in four to five years, depending on the size of a family.

“That estimate is based on energy prices remaining static. If they go up, the amount of money saved will obviously be greater,” he said.

Donald Johnstone, another director, said one of the advantages of the technology is that even in poor weather hot water is guaranteed as the system still has gas or electric boosting.

“But there are still savings on the power bill. If you boil a kettle and then friends drop in for a cuppa and you boil it again, it doesn’t take so long because the water is already warm.

“That is how it is with this solar system. It absorbs ultra-violet light.

“Even when there is little sun the water system is kept warm so it doesn’t take as long to fully heat.”

The Government will require all newly built houses to be environmentally friendly which means there is a huge need for systems such as the Apricus, the men say.

There are also grants available to help convert to renewable energy.