§ Mr. Rostasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make a statement on the progress of the research into solar energy which his Department is supporting; what financial and technical assistance he is providing; and when he expects to publish any conclusions.
§ Mr. CroslandMy Department's Housing Development Directorate is supporting two projects involving solar energy studies.
538WThe first is London Central Polytechnic's solar energy house at Milton Keynes; £4,500 has been made available towards construction costs and a request for further funds is under consideration. The results of the work are likely to be published in two or three years' time.
The second project is the Cambridge Department of Architecture's autonomous house. The bulk of the support for this project from public funds is through the Science Research Council, but the directorate is also contributing to construction and development costs. The size of this contribution is now under discussion and has not been finalised. The project is still in its early stages and no date can yet be set for publication. It has recently been widely featured by the Press and other media.
Within a wider programme estimated to cost £40,000 per annum the Building Research Establishment is also working on the design aspects of buildings to take account of solar gain and on the provision of domestic hot water from solar energy. There will be a continuing series of publications on the results of this work.